The Bishounen Boys
by SplashTOMATO
Summary: COMPLETE Taito, hints of Daikenkeru. Yaoi and AU. 5 Japanese enter an American high school... the epic of a middleclass educational society and its struggles, and what it means to vent out in love, anger and... music. Unbastardized version on site.
1. Notes and Teaser

The Bishounen Boys

By Splash

Notes: Just another one of my crazy ideas... This series is going to rely more on the anonymous conversation flowing thing... well, you'll get it when you come across it ;; It's one of the quickest ways to write for me ;; But I won't be doing that for the actual NC-17 parts for obvious reasons...

Why Bishounen Boys? It's a 5 boy band, but "guest singers" might come up once in a while... so who are the original five? Why, it's Taichi, Yamato, Takeru, Daisuke and Ken, of course! Who'd ya expect?

Koushirou: What about me? Or Jyou! Or uh... Wallace, maybe?

That's why I said GUEST SINGERS... HINT. HINT.

Jyou: Oh..

Basic plot/setting: A "normal" American city, a "normal" American high school, with "normal" American high school students... ho boy...

Ages (2002):

Taichi Yagami: 15 (freshman)

Yamato Ishida: 15 (freshman)

Takeru Takaishi: 12 (7th grade)

Daisuke Motomiya: 12 (7th grade)

Ken Ichijouji: 12 (7th grade)

In this series, Takeru is NOT related to Yamato (or vise versa), but their parents were close friends when they were young, and that's how they know each other. Their relation now... you'll have to wait and see!

Chapter names will probably be set after some kind of boy band song, but they won't be "songfics." If lyrics are used, the Bishounen Boys are probably singing them themselves

Fic Warnings: AU (Alternate Universe. You know, I only found that out a short while ago. I always thought it referred to angst or something before... honestly! ;;), Boy/Boy relationships of all kinds.. it's a REALLLLLLLY big polygon Well, not really, but you'll just see when you get there... being the kind of person I am, the best stuff is still Taito and Daiken..

Rated PG-13 for Yaoi and uh... stuff related to Yaoi... I'm planning to go lemon in this pretty soon, though...

Disclaimers: I don't own Digimon or the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync or other boy bands mentioned in this fic if they WILL be mentioned... thank God Anyhow, it'd be pretty interesting if... uh... they actually DID this kind of... stuff... looks away

And now for the tiny, tiny teaser!

May 16, 2003

" Mock elections are always fun," is what Principal Downing always said. Well, counting them was just a huge chore. You sit there in a boring room and count ballots alllllll day long. Eck.

" 891, 892, 893..." God... whoever this guy was, he sure had it going. He already had way over half of the school votes for this category... speaking of which, I didn't even bother to check which category this was for.

I asked the guy next to me what I was counting these Goddamn ballots for.

" The question asks 'Who would you want to jump into bed with?'."

Peh. High schoolers these days... I remember a time when the word "sex" was like a swear word...

I finally finished counting the ballots, 953 total. That seemed a little awkward, considering the entire school population was barely over 1,000 people... I checked the bulletin board next to me listing the common stats of the school and looked under "total population of females."

Hmph.

" Strange. Yamato Ishida has 953 votes for the person they would want into jump in bed with." I said to the guy next to me. I think his name was Ed or something, but I didn't pay attention when he introduced himself. Was it going to kill me if I didn't know?

" So the guy's popular. Your point?"

I quickly re-read the bulletin board to make sure my vision was correct. " This school only has 678 females." 


	2. Part 1: I Knew I Loved You

*******  
The Bishounen Boys  
Part 1: I Knew I Loved You"  
By Splash  
*******  
  
A/N: Inspired by Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You" Kinda...  
So it's not really a boy band... it's a band sung by males. Good enough for me :P  
  
****  
  
~August 19, 2002~  
  
" Have you seen the new kid? His hair's just BEGGING for him to get punched two or three times."  
  
" Yeah, but I gotta admit, he looks rather sexy with that sloppy hairdo..."  
  
" I think he looks TOTALLY sexy! Are you sure he's only a freshman? God..."  
  
" Oi, Jess, did you see the other newcomers? I swear to God, there must be some kind of hot alien colony landing right in our district..."  
  
" But none of these 'aliens' have met up with the first one yet..."  
  
" Oooooooohh... THAT one... He's got a hot bod..."  
  
" Hmph. A little too feminine for me."  
  
" Feminine or not, he's got something strange about him. I tried talking to him the other day and he seemed really distant. It wasn't just like he didn't care whether I was there, but almost that he didn't care if ANYTHING existed, not even himself, not anything... period."  
  
" Whoa... getting too far out there for me, Lise..."  
  
" Not really. I just don't see why he could possibly-"  
  
" Hey, why don't we go over and talk to Mr. Mop Hair? He looks kind of lonely."  
  
Another misplaced strand of chocolate brown hair made its way down Taichi's face, tickling his nose lightly. He puffed out a sigh in an attempt to move it out of his view, but to no avail. Sighing again, he reached down towards his bag on the floor. Feeling around, avoiding the hairbrush, the hairspray, and the... scrunchy (guess some random girl dropped it in there..), he pulled out a blue strip of spandex..  
  
" Oh my God, he looks even more sexier with a headband on!"  
  
" Jess, shut up, he'll hear you! And why are you pulling up your..."  
  
A small tapping on his desk brought his attention to the blandly visible navel in front of him. Unconcerned, he looked up to take in the view of a girl that seemed to be the most stereotypical blonde girl he had even seen in his life. Immediately losing his interest, he switched his gaze back to the book he was reading.  
  
" Hey boy, what's your name?" she chirped, slightly disappointed from the dull reaction.  
  
" What's it to you?" he replied, wondering how many times he had said that in one day.  
  
" Just say it."  
  
There's a slight pause as the brunette gave up on his book ("The Catcher in the Rye") and stuck his bookmark (his school ID card) on the page where he left off and casually dropped it onto his desk.  
  
" Yagami Taichi."  
  
" Yagami? That's certainly an unusual name," said the female who had been silent since their arrival at Taichi's desk, " My name's Lisa, but I never liked the name so everybody calls me Lise, except my parents..." she gave a low cough at the mention of the higher authority.  
  
" Gomen- I mean, sorry. I'm originated from Japan, so I'm still getting used to the American crap."  
  
" Well, you sure have a good American accent for a secondary language," said " navel girl". Taichi turned all eye contact away from her.  
  
" I watch a lot of dubbed Anime," he explained, " But Yagami is my last name, not my first."  
  
" Gese, then you should SAY it first!"  
  
" Sorry, but a lot of us Japanese say it like that."  
  
Lise paused from rubbing a smear on her khakis. " Say, doesn't that other newbie come from Japan, also? Wow, what a coincidence."  
  
' Another Japanese? Well, at least there's SOMETHING to look into...' " Who is this person?"  
  
" Navel girl" stepped in. " His name was too hard to remember, but he's a really hot, sex- erm... blonde guy. Yeah. That's all I know, really."   
  
After a long silence, Jess finally figured out that the boy wasn't going to reply. Moving closer and placing a palm over Lise's ear, she whispered, " What a boring guy. At least the blonde was more ATTRACTIVE..."  
  
" So, Jess, you think material items aid in sex appeal? I wonder if you're into bondage."  
  
Right on the mark.  
  
" I'm sorry, but I don't lean towards that kind of... playing," he continued, " I would hate to hear what you would say if I brought a pair of handcuffs."  
  
Taichi adjusted his headband as he watched the girl flush redder and redder, giving her a wry grin. He then stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder, leaving his first day in Portage Central High School.  
  
****  
  
I guess people here don't really like good hairstyle... I've seen their stares. They try to look the other way when I catch them, but they don't know how sharp my senses are. All the other guys look like they shaved their heads a couple days ago.... puh.   
  
And the females...  
  
Sluts. All of them. Well, maybe except that Lise girl. She's obviously one of those types that only hangs out with the other sluts so she doesn't get picked on by them. Inside, she's probably a sweet girl that everybody could get to like. Although, if I were in her position, I would forget about the sluts and just be myself. That's the best thing to do, right?  
  
I walked past the school doors-  
  
Only to be shoved back in.  
  
" Hey, fuzzbrain!"  
  
I opened my eyes to see a rough hand up close, clutching my white undershirt.  
  
" Who.."  
  
" WHO the hell do you think you ARE?"  
  
Punch in the stomach.  
  
" Huh..?"  
  
" What makes you think you can be so flirty on the chicks on your first day?!?"  
  
Punch in the eye.  
  
" Un..."  
  
A NASTY punch in the eye...   
  
" Jess is MINE. Don't go near her, you hear??"  
  
How many times has he punched my eye?!?  
  
" Go back to where you came from, you FUCKING BASTARD!"  
  
" Hey."  
  
I felt a whisk of air as the bully's head turned around.  
  
" Leave him alone."  
  
And as quickly as he appeared, the bully left without another word, and I didn't even get to see the person who had saved me.  
  
****  
  
As he wandered the school streets heading back home, he spotted a group of males playing a lively game of soccer. He had requested to join the soccer team when he applied for the school, but the people in charge hadn't organized all his physical papers yet. It would be a short while before he could actually start practicing with them.   
  
The few people he crossed walking down the street had given them even larger stares now that he sported a fine purple eye along with the unique hairstyle. He approached a small intersection and tried to remember which way it was to his house. House... he was so used to saying condominiums since he had spent all of his life in Japan in one. Now he had this gigantic building where he could yell his head off and only his parents would complain. But he hadn't found any time to do that yet.  
  
Yet...  
  
Turning left, he saw a patch of woods he hadn't noticed before on his left side. He could've sworn he heard some kind of strange wailing noise. He waited for the truck to drive by, which only followed by a group of noisy gossiping girls. Normally, he would've ignored him, but he was apparently the females' subject of conversation.  
  
' Jesus, these American girls really don't know how to whisper. I can hear them like honking geese..'  
  
When the girls were out of gossiping range, he turned his ear back to the woods, straining to find that sound again. And sure enough, there it was... a soft sound of some kind of musical instrument.  
  
Curious, he took several steps into the woods, and a thin shadow of a shed appeared. He walked closer, and the music got louder...  
  
And suddenly, he was at the front door, barely realizing how much his feet had carried him unconsciously. It was a small shed, somewhat old and tarnished, but it didn't look like one of those sheds that little kids would make scary stories from. It was made of drabby, dull, brown wood, but the roof was amazingly quite intact.  
  
The melody crept into his ears, bringing his attention back to the sound. Now the music was rather clear, and he confirmed to himself the sound of a harmonica. But should he interrupt or not? Knock on the door? Start talking outside the door? Whisper? Yell? Or maybe he could just leave...  
  
" I would prefer if you didn't eavesdrop and just come in already."  
  
Or he could be invited...  
  
He pulled back the handle, emitting a small creak from the door, and stepped inside. There weren't any windows inside, only the peeps of light creeping through the cracks in the walls. And in the lonely corner on the other side, he saw the dim outline of the other person, his harmonica gripped in his hands.  
  
" You're the new kid from Japan, right?"  
  
" Yeah." Taichi made a second thought about the other boy's voice when he suddenly blurted out, " Hey, you're the guy who saved me from that bully!"  
  
He stuffed his harmonica back into a pocket in his pants. " You've got a good memory."  
  
" Well, it WAS just about 15 minutes ago," the brunette replied modestly, " Anyhow, um... arigatou. Kansha shitemasu." Just then he realized his primary language had taken over again and was about to correct himself, when-  
  
" You don't need to thank me. It was nothing, really. Those bullies gave me a bit of a time when I first came here, but I can't blame them for not knowing what kind of person I was beforehand."  
  
Taichi paused for about ten seconds before it hit him.  
  
" Are you the other new guy from Japan?"  
  
The other stood up, brushing off residue from his school uniform. " Yeah, it's nice to know there's someone else here I can speak Japanese to. Would it be okay if I turned on the light?"  
  
" Be my guest."  
  
Another short pause. " Certainly." He reached up with on hand and grabbed a seemingly invisible cord, pulling it down and turning on a small, dim light barely a foot above Taichi's head. Everything was still faint, but at least they could see the colors of the shack. " Sate to, kimi wa...?"  
  
" Yagami Taichi desu."  
  
The edge of the other's lips curled upward slightly. " Ah, sou. Ore wa Ishida Yamato."  
  
' Nice name...' " It's nice we can talk like this. The people at school won't have any idea what we're talking about."  
  
" So we could call them the worst things anyone could think of and they wouldn't know it."  
  
Taichi gave a light chuckle. " Actually, we should be a little careful. I heard this one story when some guys were checking out an American girl crossing their house and talking to each other in Polish, commenting about her cleavage and all that snazz. They didn't know that this woman knew Polish, and everyday they would do the same thing when she came down their street. So one day, she came up to them and told them off in perfect Polish, and well... guess how the guys reacted."  
  
" Heh," Yamato smirked. " Well, we'll find out if the person we're talking about speaks Japanese before we say anything about 'em. Don't worry."  
  
During the awkward silence that followed, Yamato began playing with his hair a bit... ' Blonde,' Taichi observed, ' That's him, all right. That hot, sex-'  
  
" Do you want me to treat that eye a bit? Looks like you took a few wicked ones back there."  
  
Now that he thought about it, it WAS kind of throbbing...  
  
But without another warning, the blonde strode over to close Taichi and placed a wet washcloth over his right eye. Taichi winced instinctively as the coldness swept over him.  
  
' Why in the world does he have a wet washcloth with him? It's like he was expecting me or something...'  
  
He wasn't given any more time to explore that thought when he felt a chilly breeze against his face. He opened his free eye to see Yamato blowing gently on him. The coldness stopped stinging, and he began to relax, letting Yamato's blowing ease his pain. It felt so soothing, so comfortable, and maybe a little... erotic, even...  
  
His other eye opened, now numb, and stared into Yamato's starling blue eyes...  
  
Half dazed, half jaded...  
  
****  
Tsuzuku...  
****  
  
Sorry for forgetting about the other three guys ^^;; I've been in a very Taito mood lately, but I promise to get some of the other bishounen action in the next part! Please R+R! ^_^  
  
I haven't really decided the seme/uke factors, either... I tend to see Taito fans go for anything as long as Tai and Matt are yah-yah, but the Yamachi fans tend to stick to Yama seme, Tai uke and don't really like it the other way around... but that's just from what I've seen ^^;; I go for both (which I really dun see why people should complain about because it's still Tai and Yama ;_;). I'm also for Daiken, but I can kind of understand where Kensuke comes from. I just have problems with seeing a girly Dai @_@ And TK.. uh... I'll get to that later. Actually, I see it rather amusing to put him as an all out seme... lol.  
  
All right, my Japanese romanizing sux, and my Japanese grammar sux, so I make errors, just humor me, ne? I only know the stuff I catch from watching too much subtitled Anime ^^;;  
  
Arigatou. Kansha shitemasu.- "Thank you. I'm grateful."  
Sate to, kimi wa- "So, you're..."  
desu- Erm.... it's pretty much a confirmation addition...  
Ah, sou. Ore wa Ishida Yamato.- "Ah, I see. I'm Ishida Yamato."  
Tsuzuku- To be Continued  
  
*Edited 5/22/01, Thanx to Libek for correcting some of my newbieness ^_^  
  
Splash  
http://gottaito.cjb.net 


	3. Part 2: Negai Kanaeru Kagi

*******  
The Bishounen Boys  
Part 2: "Negai Kanaeru Kagi"  
By Splash  
*******  
  
A/N: Thanx so much for your reviews! I luv 'em *_* This really has no inspiration, so the closest thing I could find that has anything to do with the fic is Yamato's 02 image song, which I'm going to recycle and use once again in my fics. Translated lyrics are on the prologue of Lost Star: That Same Beautiful Song if you're curious ^_^  
  
****  
  
" You'll be able to choose your own partner for this project. However, the topic choice will be chosen by number..."  
  
I wish she'd just assign everyone a partner.  
  
Peering across the room, I observed half of the class giving glances to the other people in the room, the other half giving approving nods, ignoring the unnoticing teacher. Nobody even took a peek at the raven haired boy sitting in the back corner.  
  
" You have one minute to sit down next to your partner. Try to find someone that you don't know very well!"  
  
Within half a minute, everyone was sitting with their partners, minus one. They began to chatter among themselves, and it was more than apparent that these students knew their partner quite well already. And naturally, the teacher took this as people introducing each other and didn't realize what it really was. Casually sitting in her chair, she spotted me as the only silent one within the jabbering crowd. Why do teachers always notice the wrong things?!?  
  
" Mr. Ichijouji, do you have a partner?"  
  
They always ask the wrong questions, too.  
  
Hesitantly, I replied a short, " No."  
  
" Well, this class has an odd number of students, but I'm sure you'll be fine working by yourself, won't you?"  
  
I shrugged nonchalantly, lazy to give a verbal response.  
  
" Mrs. Hake? Is it okay if Ken joins our group?"  
  
You know what? I have low self-esteem. What kind of low self-esteem? REALLY low. At this point, I wondered how the hell this person remembered my NAME, let alone why he even considered inviting me to his group. That's what kind of low self-esteem I have. I don't know where I got it from or when.  
  
" I suppose so. Mr. Ichijouji, TK and Davis would like you in their group. Is that okay with you?"  
  
I'm cynical, too. I hate how she calls me that. It makes me sound old or something.  
  
Again, I shrugged. I got off my seat and wandered over to the two boys who had volunteered me into their group. One had golden blonde hair that hung randomly over his head, the other brown with a red tint and... goggles.  
  
Mrs. Hake came by with a sign out sheet and asked us to pick one of the topics listed for the project. Guess we got the lucky number draw... And if someone couldn't tell what subject this was for, they'd be in a really big rut...  
  
" But the mural sounds more interesting. But if we tried the gallery book..."  
  
The goggle boy shook his head, " Naw, we can try the photography one since my dad has some equipment..."  
  
" I think the gallery book would be a lot more crea-"  
  
While they argued over photos and books, I glanced at the sheet for any of my own personal preferences. Not that it mattered whether I had one or not, they probably wouldn't care. Those two had probably been friends for who knows how long (they even argued like it), and I was just some newbie in a foreign country.  
  
" Oi, Takeru, sore wa himitsu desu yo! Chiksou..."  
  
Well, apparently they had gotten offtrack somewhere down the line of their dispute and... wait a sec...  
  
" Kimi-tachi..."  
  
The blonde went on, unnoticed. " Waka- euh?"  
  
The goggle boy suddenly smiled. " So you DO speak Japanese! I thought so the instant I heard that last name ' Mr. Ichijouji,'" the exaggerated imitation of the teacher gave a little more brightness to my day... " Welcome to the club, Ken!"  
  
" Club...?"  
  
" Yeah, you don't happen to know our real and full names, do ya?"  
  
I answered with no answer, which the happy-go-lucky kid took as a negative.  
  
" I'm Daisuke Motomiya and," he slung an arm around the the other's neck, forcing a small blush from the blonde's cheeks to go along with his widening expression, " this is Takeru Takaishi. You're free to call us by our real names anytime you like. Well, actually... ANYBODY'S free to do that, but you're probably one of the few who'll say it right." His tongue unceremoniously popped out of his mouth. " You're lucky to have such an easy name."  
  
I uttered a low grunt and went back to the list, running my thumb down the bullets on the left side. I couldn't really do much with the words, anyhow...  
  
" Hey, Ken, that's a GREAT idea!!"  
  
" Huh?"  
  
Without warning, Daisuke and Takeru had me surrounded in some strange kind of huddle. Involuntarily, my thumb had stopped on "song composition."  
  
" You really think so, Takeru?" Daisuke asked.  
  
" Yeah, composing is my hobby. We can just use one of my compositions and we're set!"  
  
" Ever the lazy ones, are we?"   
  
" Nothin' wrong with being lazy. We won't have to set up times to go to each other's places that way. I'm writing us down for that." He pulled out a pen from one of his pant pockets and scribbled down a jumble of letters onto the sign-up sheet. Mrs. Hake came over and picked it up, smiling when she read the words.  
  
" I can't wait to hear it, guys."  
  
Takeru paled completely. " hear...?"  
  
" Yes, in order to get full credit, I need to hear you all sing it. You'll get extra credit if you sing it in front of the class live!"  
  
She ambled over to the next group to question their project, leaving Takeru pouting.  
  
" I guess we'll have to go to each other's places after all..."  
  
****  
  
He had a really tiring day, he suddenly realized. The introductions to every single one of the seven classes he went to, the stacks of books he had to stuff in his locker because of the absence of his backpack... which was really a pain because some of his classes were on the other side of where his locker was located. Fortunately, he was excused for being late since it was his first day. If he wanted to, he could've been missing for half the class and still gotten away with it, knowing the fact that he was a foreign student. Anyhow, at lunch time he tried to sit next to a pack of boys who apparently only welcomed those who had boners.... correction, IMMATURE pack of boys. He ended up taking a lone table in the corner, quite aware of the whisperings of the girls nearby.  
  
First hour English was... meh. The teacher was young and nice and all, but... meh. Second hour Biology had a strangely quiet class, but when he saw the amount of work he had to do, he wanted out right then, right there. Mr. Andrews wasn't exactly the best teacher for American Heritage. He had this annoying habit of randomly telling the students to write down everything they knew about a topic... a topic he should've been TEACHING rather than giving out-of-the-blue tests for. Like today, he found out that the students were just talking about Civil Rights Act of 1957 yesterday and when Mr. Andrews came to settle the class down, he told them to get out a sheet of paper and write down 30 things they knew about the 1960's. He later discovered that he would sometimes collect these little tests and actually grade them. What kind of teacher is a teacher that doesn't teach?  
  
Yamato's breath was beginning to make him shiver... how long had he been doing that? He had lost feeling in his eye a while ago and the blonde only continued his pattern.  
  
Fourth hour French... had an awful lot of people who didn't know French at ALL. And the ones who did kept mixing up English grammar or some other French grammar thing... it drove the teacher insane. Hell, the only proper French thing they could properly say was, "Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" It was just a really sad class..  
  
But speaking of beds... he really felt like taking a nap. He suddenly noticed how weary he was, how difficult it was to keep his eyes open, even with the constant breeze tingling his nerves back to life.  
  
Fifth hour... he couldn't attend it since the class had gone on some field trip to see some concert, so he just sat in the room the whole hour with nothing to do and no one to talk with. But at least now he knew his way around the area, where the equipment was kept, what color the gum on the bottom of the center shelf was. It was a large classroom, considering that the choir and orchestra shared it...  
  
He felt shut his eyes too long, gravity forcing him to bend forward, but he fought back and brought himself back to awareness.  
  
Geometry was full of guys who talked with their CD players banging punk rock music into their ears at volume 8. Well, those guys didn't really talk, but the ones who did had some pretty interesting conversations. Their perverted jokes actually had taste... and then seventh hour art came. And that was... an art class. Foundations of art, actually. They did a bit of everything; they were working on contour drawing and they would move on to oil pastel, pottery, millefiori beads, macrame, and finally... jewelry. It SOUNDED interesting... kinda.  
  
'It isn't a good day for first impressions,' he finally concluded, 'except the one from THIS guy...'  
  
Though his vision was blurred, he could see the pale face in front of him, still nurturing his completely numb eye. Was it just his imagination or had he gotten a lot closer? Again, his eyelids fell over his eye like curtains let loose too early, and gravity once again worked against him. This round, however, he didn't have any energy left to resist...  
  
Yamato suddenly felt a large pressure against his lips, catching him by surprise. A brown mass of hair flooded his face, irritating him into pulling back. But when he saw the other figure falling, he instinctively caught him under the arms, bringing Taichi to his chest in order to keep himself balanced.  
  
" Huh..?" Taichi mumbled, opening his eyes and catching the glimpse of his position. He tried to get himself back standing, grabbing onto the blonde's waist for support.  
  
For once, he finally succeeded in something, his equilibrium restored. He let out a relieved sigh, mentally making sure he wouldn't do that again. It really had been a tiring day, but at least he didn't fall asleep during class. Not like it would be a surprise to the other students, considering how long his seventh hour teacher talked. He never knew a lecture about art could get so boring...  
  
" Ano, Taichi..."  
  
And then he discovered that they were still clutching each other, almost like life lines. They pulled apart as if they were trying to yank open a refrigerator and peek in to see if they could catch the refrigerator light before it "turned on," and turned their backs on each other, shame-faced.  
  
Yamato felt lightheaded, but that was probably just from all the blowing...   
  
But that didn't really explain his panting...  
  
He cleared his throat, blocking any more heavy breaths from reaching the face of the earth (or just that shack), and quickly glanced over to his school bag laying scrunched in the corner he was sitting at earlier.  
  
" We should get going." The blonde walked over and picked up his bag as Taichi turned back around. They left the shack rapidly, leaving behind an incident they hoped the other would forget. Unfortunately, they both knew that they wouldn't be able to do that themselves.  
  
****  
Tsuzuku...  
****  
  
HUMOR ME WITH THE JAPANESE!!!!! WOOOOOOO!  
  
Oi, Takeru, sore wa himitsu desu yo! Chiksou..- Hey, TK, that's a secret! Damn...  
Kimi-tachi...-You guys...  
Ano-Um (Did you really need that to be translated? Hope not..)  
  
Taichi's schedule talk... is real. It's my schedule, actually ^_^ If you've been reading around my Livejournal, you've got the whole friggin' thing memorized, ne? J/k, I know you guys have a better life than memorizing random people's class schedules, rigggggggght? But you might be able to understand more of 5th hour if you read the entry.. And the descriptions are real, though I'm not that cynical about them ^^;; Dang, that Catcher in the Rye book does TOO MUCH!!!!!!! No wonder why they have entire psychological classes on that thing _ 


	4. Part 3: Focus

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 3: "Focus"

By Splash

-------

A/N: "Focus" is Takeru's 02 image song for the Best Partner series It's my third favorite, but it's probably my first favorite lyric-wise ;; Credit to Gijinka Wormmon for lyrics! They're in English for this fic, but if you want Romanized lyrics or something, Megchan ( should have them, or I could email you them.

Nobody seemed to notice that during Taichi's schedule talk he didn't have a backpack during the whole day, yet when he left the school he had one with him ;; I meant to type it into the story, but I guess it slipped my mind, but his mother dropped it off for him during 6th hour and he had to come pick it up, nothing embarrassing

Matt: You and your strange ways of filling up plot holes...

It wasn't really a plot hole... TT

And in 2002, the Portage schools opened at August 12. I'm not sure if that will really happen or not, but with the trends of school starting earlier and earlier around here, it's quite possible --

All right, let's get some Taito and Daikenkeru started here... you know, this series is going a LOT slower than I thought it would, which is a good thing to me. I'm not much for stories with light-speed plots ;;

----

August 20, 2002

The first thing he noticed entering his third hour class was a certain blonde male sitting in the front corner of the room. Smiling at the recognizable face, Taichi took the vacant seat to the right of him. The instant his bottom made contact with the chair, it attracted the attention of everyone behind him. Spotting the newbie brunette next to the newbie blonde gave them even more mindless ideas for gossip...

" Yamato, you have this class, too? Where were you yesterday?" Taichi said in the language they discussed the day before.

" I had a field trip... lasted until the middle of 6th hour," the blonde replied, eyeing the people staring at them at the sound of foreign words. " I'm glad we have this class together. It's a complete nightmare and you've got to have a partner, or else you're just swimming in a pool full of sharks."

The teacher stepped into the room at that moment, cup of coffee in hand. " Being the reliable honor type students you are, you've all got your notes out, right?" he barked, gazing around the classroom.

Of course, being the honor type students, they all concluded that taking orders from a dictating teacher with a horribly balding head was a chore. However, the detention slips in the teacher's other hand was enough to motivate them to dig through their jam-packed school bags and find their notebooks.

The hour flew by, and not just because of the video they watched the entire hour (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, mainly to see that one guy talk about government...), but the little transfer of notes between the two boys...

" What do you have next hour?"

" French, and you?"

" Wow... I have French, too. Do you have Mrs. Siminton?"

" No, I have Mrs. Murphy. I heard your class was a lot smarter...that's easy to believe."

" I guess. What lunch do you have?"

" A. That's the first one, right?"

" It comes before the other letters in the alphabet... That's sweet, I have it too. I think we better hold off the notes. I could've sworn Mr. Andrews saw us..."

So after an aggravating French hour full of "NO, that goes with avoir, not être!" and " Prendre goes into pris, not prené!" Taichi's long awaited lunch hour arrived. He had been hungry since the beginning of second hour, despite the huge breakfast he gobbled down fifteen minutes before school started. If that's how a normal feeding day went, he'd hate to see his condition if he DIDN'T have breakfast... or if he had any lunch beside the first one.

Peering across the cafeteria, he spotted Yamato waiting patiently at an empty table (although surrounded by tables of female groupies who admired him in secret). As he went to join the blonde, the murmurs seemed to become even more scrambled at the revelation. For the first few minutes, the boys kept a mutual silence, catching bits and pieces of the gossip as they consumed their meals.

" Hey, aren't both of those boys from Japan? Wow..."

" Do you think they already knew each other? Maybe that's why they're at the same table."

" Lise, do you think I have any chance with the big-haired dude?"

The brunette darted his eyes toward the general direction of the last, clear statement.

" Not if you don't even know his name."

" Lise, you've talked to him before, right? YOU know his name! Come on, tell me!"

" Taichi."

And now Yamato's attention was caught, hearing the first correct accent from a female ever since he arrived in this whorehouse.

" What?"

" Taichi."

A pause. " ... What kind of name is THAT?"

" A Japanese one. Makes sense, doesn't it? You didn't expect him to have a name like Fred or something, did you?"

" Well... not really. What was it again?"

Lise sighed, pitying the girl for her slowness. " Taichi."

" Oh, is that like those funky slow motion karate things people are always doing on TV commercials and stuff?"

" That's Tai Chi, they're two different words. But it's spelled the same."

" Cool. So what's his last name, then?"

Again, in a beautiful Japanese accent. " Yagami."

" ...What?"

----

" You can sing, right?"

The question seemed to pop-up out of nowhere, but then again, it was actually an appropriate question since it concerned the reason why Ken came into Takeru's apartment.

" Yeah," the dark haired boy responded, taking off his shoes without bothering to use his hands. They had been worn down enough that he could do something like that. " People say I sound like an angel."

" I would rather go for the 'devil' reputation," Daisuke chimed, grinning wildly.

Takeru smirked, mildly amused. " Wanna head to my room?"

" Uh, sure," the newcomer replied, still feeling somewhat uncomfortable to the new environment. More smiles arose from the other two boys' faces as they tottered ahead, leading the way through the small apartment. Ken glanced over at the family pictures hung on the wall of Takeru and his mother, and then at the sofa with purple and white vertical stripes. Ignoring the strange taste in furniture, he slowly followed the other two boys.

Once in the room, Daisuke proceeded to make himself comfortable on the host's four-post bed, stretching out his limbs and taking over the entire space. Takeru gave a lock of mock dismal and roughly shoved the boy's legs off the bed to make room for himself, only to be kicked in the head for invading the goggle boy's space.

Ken entered the room to encounter Takeru and Daisuke in awkward positions, sprawled across the bed. Whether they were just being territorial or just playing...

Blushing slightly, the raven haired boy decided to make haven on the desk chair nearby. Settling himself down backwards so he could rest his head on his arms (which were on the backrest of the chair), he tried his best to avoid watching the bed-fight scene), thinking about "other thoughts" in his mind. Oddly, the thought that "raven," rhymed with "haven" was enough to keep him occupied.

" Ah! That's better."

The blush that had refused to cease only worsened. A fleeting contemplation about what they did together before he came along was pushed away as the clothes shuffling died away. Ken turned his attention back to the bed to see that the boys had settled their little dispute... Daisuke still in his original position, but where one of his legs was previously stretched out was Takeru, sitting down on half a foot area of space, a defeated look on his face.

" You know, I am SO glad we got a half day today and the high school kids didn't. For once WE get something extra!" Daisuke rambled, obviously contented with his victory.

" So... um..." The blonde uttered, trying to make his hair less messy (whether it was from the hat or the little thing before, Ken didn't bother to ask), " Let's get started. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

----

" Come on, kids, we've got a lot of work ahead of us! This is no time to fool around, so settle down!"

The students were scattered around the large room, chatting wildly, yet aware of the teacher's orders. Maybe it was out of disrespect or just the fact that they liked to chat, but it certainly didn't make the teacher any happier. Waiting for her commands to be carried out, she glanced around the room looking for her new student, only to see him missing. Her class WAS rather difficult to find, so she would probably let the tardiness slide... this time.

When everyone had finally found a place to sit down five minutes later, the teacher stood up from her chair and spoke, " Class, we have a new addition to our orchestra... who's not here yet."

" Is it a guy?" one of the females immediately chirped, viola securely tucked under her arm.

The entire class broke in a mad raging fit of giggles and laughs at the question just as two newcomers entered the orchestra room.

The teacher, the only one to see them, demanded, " What took you boys so long?"

While Taichi awed at the teacher's quick transition from silly to serious, the blonde next to him answered. " I gave Taichi over here a new tour around the lunch area. My deepest apologies, Mrs. Hinderliter."

" Go get your instruments while I settle the class," she replied, satisfied with the excuse.

----

Within an hour, Takeru had jammed the melody of his song into our heads so much that it would probably be stuck there for the next few months. But we knew it well, at least. Now we just needed to learn the words. Not so hard, right?

After twenty minutes of Takeru's badgering for us to get the lyrics "perfectly," Daisuke began complaining to get some water for his hurting throat. I made Takeru take a second trip to the kitchen after realizing my own ache.

We talked quietly for a while, conserving our voices. 

" You guys sing pretty great," I complimented, still feeling shy, " Are you in choir?"

" Yep. Dai and I. What about you, Ichijouji-kun?"

" I'm in band," I looked down at my hands on my lap, as if being part of a different class was a sin of some sort.

" Kakoi! What instrument do you play?" Daisuke said, enthusiasm at a high.

Still looking down, " Um... saxophone."

" Shuweeeeeeeet." Now why did that sound so close...?

I averted my eyes upwards, casting them on a gigantic grin right in front of me. When did he-

" D-Daisuke!" I shot back, falling head over heels in surprise. That's the last time I'm sitting on a chair backwards.

Takeru rolled over in his bed laughing, Daisuke still with his grin, though with a touch of pity in the way he looked at me.

" Sorry, Ken, didn't mean to surprise you there. Heh, heh..."

Sighing, I gazed across the room upside down, feeling funny seeing the carpet as the ceiling and the ceiling as the floor. My eye caught an interesting picture frame carelessly placed on the carpet, and I crawled back up to my feet to examine it.

When Takeru had finished with his giggling fit, I asked him about the image inside the borders of the frame.

" Oh, back in Japan my mom was really close to this one guy, and the other person in that picture is that guy's son. His name's Yamato," Takeru replied, slightly tired from the exercise, " He was such a cool guy. Hm..."

Sensing Takeru going off into la-la land, Daisuke gave him a nice pinch on his shorts-clad leg.

" Daisuke! Why'd you do that?" Takeru snapped, sitting up in a flash.

" Are we going to learn that song or not, blondie?" Daisuke said chumly.

" Um. Yeah," he replied, still stuck in a nostalgia cloud, " I wonder what he's doing now, Yamato..."

----

" You play the cello, Taichi?" Yamato blurted, mouth gaping open, " ...yikes."

" The cellos here are pretty nice," Taichi commented, observing the beauty he had in his hands, " I'm impressed."

Yamato brought his violin case from one of the cubby holes, patiently waiting for his friend. " Ready for your debut? This orchestra is full of flirters... Nice ones, though."

The brunette observed the line of wooden bows, checking their sturdyness and bow hair quality. The one that he wanted to use when he was in the storage room yesterday had already been taken, and he probably wouldn't get to use it anytime soon. " Flirters? Heh... Have you fallen for any of them?"

He replied with a casual shrug of his young shoulders. " No, I probably couldn't even if I wanted to. They're just... nice."

Finally choosing the last bow, which happened to be the longest, Taichi picked up his school cello by the neck, surprised by how heavy it was compared to his own back home. He hadn't noticed that before... oh well, he'd get used to with a couple days of work. " It's a good change from all those sluts hanging around the school, at least."

" Yeah..."

That comment seemed to finalize their conversation, which was great since from behind the storage room door they could indistinctly hear, " Hey, what're you boys doing in there?" from their middle-aged teacher.

Taichi gave a somewhat concerned expression to Yamato, hearing the giggles beyond that storage door as they approached it.

" Don't worry, they're always this perverted," Yamato said, the arm bearing his instrument case (strapped on his shoulder) ready to push the door open.

The cello player's brows furrowed even further, doing the opposite of what Yamato had intended them to do. " Yeah, but the TEACHER?" The sides of the blonde's mouth curled upward and he breathed out something that sounded vaguely like "teh" before slinging his arm around Taichi's backside with his free arm. With a split second utter of surprise, the brunette blinked as additional light from the orchestra room spread onto his face.

The two boys stepped out, instantly attracting stares from the entire orchestra as Yamato went over to the choir risers to set up his instrument, taking Taichi with him. And Taichi couldn't help wondering why the blonde's presence was sending strange, fluttery chills crawling through the nerves on his back...

----

August 29, 2002

" Boys, are you ready?"

They nodded in unison in such a way that it was obvious they had practiced their sync over and over again, and were so serious about one song that they refused to speak 24 hours before their performance in order to save their voice.

Takeru handed a tape recording of his song to the teacher, along with the lyrics (romanized and English). He walked over to the person sitting in one of the front desks and handed her a stack of papers, letting her catch the drift to hand them to the others, and then followed the others to the front of the class. They had a group huddle (which meant Daisuke bringing Takeru and Ken's foreheads close to his), turning their back towards the class. The teacher wondered what the huddle was for, but she was fascinated more with the way they were handling everything. All of the past students who had chosen the song project had griped about it the entire way, yet she heard not a single peep from this batch.

After a while, the huddle split apart and Takeru took a step forward, announcing, " Hey, I'm TK, that's Davis, and over there's Ken, and we'll be singing a song composition that --we-- came up with, called 'Focus.' Unfortunately, this song is in Japanese, but you should have a copy of the English translation in front of you." He glanced over at several of the desks and then at the girl he gave the stack to, who gave him a wink.

Snorting softly to himself, Takeru closed his eyes and started humming a low note. Daisuke followed, his own pitch higher. Ken finished the chord quickly, and they opened their mouths to project a bit further. And then, Takeru began with his first verse solo...

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

And then there was silence in the classroom, nobody daring to make the first noise, nobody daring to move. Those who had heard the song were simply stunned by the last spoken lyrics and the song itself... and those who had actually read the translations were even more impressed by the lyric writing. The ring of the harmony, the flow of the words, the excess emotion exerted...

The teacher glanced down at her grade sheet, noticing the pencil in her hand had somehow written a question mark next to the extra credit box. And she also noticed that her hand was shaking, trembling like a frozen mouse. This was BEYOND extra credit...

----

Tsuzuku...

----

Yeah, Focus! Gotta luv that song I was almost going to use Butterfly, but then realized how overused that song is (I think I've read at least 3 Taito fics where that song served the EXACT same purpose, Yamato singing it at one of his concerts to announce his love to Taichi, hehe), but I still wanted one that sounded lovey, and this was the first one I could remember at the top of my head that sounded romantic! Anyhow, if you haven't heard it, GET it! It's not all slow and mushy like those other American love songs, it's kinda like Butterfly, fast paced and... tuneful! Is that a word?

Kakoi-Cool

I'll probably be using Japanese less often, but you can naturally presume that they Bish-Boys are speaking in Japanese when they're alone.. I only use Japanese when it REALLY sounds better, and to me, that's not often ;; It's not that I dislike the Japanese (anything but!), but it's just awkward fitting it with English at most times, it's a language that should go along with its own language ;;

This chapter's a bit longer than the other ones because I thought it lacked Yaoi-ness... I'll get to it soon, I hope! It depends on my mood and your reviews...

" Is it a guy?" actually happened in my orchestra! There's a lot of other interesting things that happened in various classes (mainly orchestra), most of them a heck of a lot more perverted It's a LOT of fun tying in my real life into these fics if you haven't noticed already! Maybe that's what makes my Livejournal interesting... hm! J/k ;;

" I wonder what he's doing now, Yamato..."- For any of you who read the "Lost Star" Doujinshi, does this sound familiar?

Who saw the cello-playing Tai coming?

Matt: -raises his hand-

Don't try to flatter me, Yama -whacks away-

Splash

Couldn't help the mindless ranting in her notes again... -- sigh...

http/gottaito. 


	5. Part 4: With Arms Wide Open

*******  
The Bishounen Boys  
Part 4: "With Arms Wide Open"  
By Splash  
*******  
  
Some of these parts are the horrible result of writing in the dark in 100 degree temperature in a summer music camp dorm room ^^;; And other parts are the result of sitting around my room for two hours semi-acting out scenes with my stuffed Charizard ^^;;;;;;;;;;  
  
Sorry, Daisuke, Ken and Takeru aren't even mentioned (directly) in this chapter ^^;; It focuses on Tai and Yama, 'cept for the first bit...  
  
"With Arms Wide Open" is by Creed ^_^ If you heard the song, ignore the female reference ~_^  
  
****  
  
~August 29, 2002~  
  
~Evening~  
  
She played it over and over again, like a non-stop carousel ride, each time listening for something new. Each time, she found that new something, and clung onto it for as long as her memory could hold it. When it came out of her reach, she would just listen to it again and find it, always discovering another intriguing bit in the music.  
  
" Atte iru no ka sore dake... Shiritain da."  
  
' How do they speak like that?' she wondered aimlessly, mentally awed at the young voices' capabilities. In fact, those boys could probably surpass...  
  
' That just might be the language, though,' she thought, pushing away any thought of someone better than her man.  
  
" Donna ni senobi wo shitatte todokanakatta..."  
  
A strange cycle it was, if not worrisome. The woman had been pressing that rewind button for the past three hours, listening to that same song. She should've been thankful that her tape player didn't ruin tapes, as with other players the audio would have been irritated and scratched from all of the rewinding.  
  
" Ano hi no tobira ga ima de wa hirakeru..."  
  
Taking a brief break from listening to the music (although it was still playing through the house) to check a certain stick-like object in her bathroom, glancing at the little plus sign in the open box. Still positive...  
  
Satisfied, she walked back into her work area, the words slipping back into her mind. Even though it was in a completely different language, she had practically memorized all of the words by now...  
  
" Atte iru ka na? Sore tomo... Kikenai yo ne."  
  
Making her final decision, she pressed the stop button on her tape player and picked up the phone on her dimly-lit desk...  
  
" Hello? Foxy Talent Search Agency? I've got an offer for you that I know you won't pass up..."  
  
****  
  
~August 30, 2002~  
  
" Taichi, chotto matte!"  
  
Taichi's locker, just past the corner near his Geometry class, clicked as the ugly tan door shut. " Eh...?"  
  
' Why act surprised, Taichi?' he wondered to himself, ' You should know by now that it could only be him...'  
  
Avoiding several strange looks from the gossiping crowd, the blonde caught up with his friend and joined him on his trip to the ground floor below.  
  
" Finally, it's the weekend," Yamato sighed, following Taichi down the school stairs, violin case strapped on his arm, " Are you busy?"  
  
" Nope, I don't even have any homework!" Taichi replied happily, feet lightly bouncing off each step of the way, " Can you do anything right now? I would sure like to hear you on the violin..."  
  
The violin player smiled, features lightening up. " And I'd like to see your cello. Let's get going!"  
  
" All right, then."  
  
They exited the school, relief hanging in their shoulders. They passed the school's football field, observing the buff men on one half and the lean cheerleaders on the other.  
  
" I don't get why football's so popular in America," the brunette said as one of the men toppled over a tackling post, " It's such a... BEASTLY sport..."  
  
Understanding Taichi's point, the two walked to his house in uncomfortable silence. Yamato had to take an extra trip to his shack, fetching some music for his violin and harmonica. That only took a couple extra minutes...  
  
They soon arrived at the Yagami residence, and Taichi produced a housekey from his backpack to let them inside.   
  
A tour around the building followed from the finished basement to the guestroom upstairs, and the pair migrated to Taichi's room. Normally, he would never play in his own room, but once in a while couldn't hurt... " You wanna go first?"  
  
The brunette nodded, his mass of hair swaying with each movement. " Just hold on for a sec."  
  
Being the patient, lithe man that he was, Yamato made his seat on a nearby piece of furniture and rested his hands on his chin. He watched the cello player take a long, deep breathe, and again, and again... and stopped right before he could ask if he was having problems.  
  
Taichi moved on to his procedure of concentration, shutting his eyes and adjusting to the room's general atmosphere. The humidity, the white noise of mild air conditioning, the sensing of a blonde's slow sulking nearby...  
  
Feeling the unneeded heat being transferred from his hands, Yamato released his grip and began fanning himself, vision darting through other places of the unventured room.  
  
A sure sign of short attention span, Taichi brewed for a brief moment before blacking out his eyesight once more.  
  
Taichi had a large dressing table, corners of boxers and tee-shirts peeping out of the shelves. A convenient boom box was placed within the disarray of items splayed across the top of the table. He had left the boombox on the CD mode instead of the Tape/off one...  
  
'Energy waste,' Yamato thought bluntly, obviously an extreme conservative. ' Maybe he won't mind if I...'  
  
The brunette blinked open one eye, catching Yamato's movement to his dressing table. The other eye followed as he reached for the box with the little red light shining on it...  
  
" Yamato-"  
  
Startled like a squirrel caught in traffic, the blonde jerked, a finger accidentally pressing the CD play button. Unmotivated to move, he let the CD play, and unsuspectingly, a low murmur of a soft song came on. He was bewildered, listening to the beautiful... cello... pattern...  
  
" Bach's Unaccompanied suites for cello, Suite No. 1 Prelude," Taichi commented. " You want me to play some of it? It's probably better live."  
  
Yamato pressed the stop button lightly, flicking the box setting to that goddam Tape/Off mode, and turned around to sit back down on Taichi's deskchair.  
  
" Didn't you have some other piece in mind? You spent so much time focusing on it." he queried.  
  
" Huh? No, I was just stalling time since I couldn't think of anything to play," Taichi said, itching his cheek with bow in hand. Yamato held back a laugh, substituting with a pleasant snort.  
  
Yamato watched attentively as Taichi's bow moved across the string, each note ringing beautifully in his ears. ' He has really graceful hands,' he noted to himself, unable to take his eyes off them. But yet, Taichi's earlier observations proved correct, as Yamato's mind began to wander off...  
  
****  
  
~August 15, 2002~  
  
" Matt, is it?"  
  
A simple glance was the only answer she got, and I moved on. She was the only witness to see every bully in the entire school not be able to land a finger on me, I had left them tangled in a pile somewhere on the football field. I'm not going there again...  
  
Damn this school. All the girls are dead-brains and all the guys either hate me or refuse to talk to me for whatever crap reason. I gave up after a short while of trying to fit in. Why bother? I didn't like any of the things they did... girls andsports. Nothing else. Except maybe sex. But they always relate that to girls anyhow. Girls are all bitches and sports kill the hell out of me.  
  
" But if you think that way all the time then you'll never get a date!" my dad said as I walked by him coming home. I need to stop speaking my mind, I never know if anyone actually listens. And those that do never have anything useful to say. Was this any exception? Probably not.  
  
Never be able to get a date? In that case, I don't care. I've never felt love in my life, not even from my family. Mom is always ranting about how I'm not doing enough for the family and that my life is going nowhere, and dad doesn't say much, but when he does, he's a lot like mom...  
  
Man does life stink. Before it was just my family, and ever since I moved here even my peers are all... Puh...  
  
Maybe life isn't worth living...  
  
****  
  
~August 30, 2002~  
  
After a revealing hour of Taichi's exception for his distaste for Bach and Yamato's strange (yet wondrous) violin improvisations, the cello player's mother returned. She clumsily lumbered (and crashed) inside with six grocery bags toppling over her like a pack of football players.  
  
" You must be Yamato. My little cuttie pie's told me SOOOOOO much about you!" she said half an hour later while storing away the new groceries ("American food! Pies! Fries! ...Instant Ramen noodles?"). A small blush arose from Taichi's face at the should-be formal name calling.  
  
A messy experience of PBJ ("Is that peanut butter jacka-") created mini war-like landmines in the kitchen (how...?) and the boys were sent outside so the casualties could be fixed. Bored out of their minds within minutes (dead ants in the driveway from mother's Mitsubishi...wow.) they confided in a little tour of the neighborhood... THEIR neighborhood, they soon found out. Taking the scenic route, they discovered a God-awful LOT of kids roaming the streets, probably a nice average of 2.16 kids in every house... however the hell you can get a 16 hundredth of a kid...  
  
They wandered to and forth from Yamato's house on the other side of the neighborhood, learning random facts such as Taichi having his road-rage suffering mom drive him to school every weekday, and about the annoying middle schoolers that always blocked the roads with their scooters... and when they arrived back at Taichi's, his mother shoo-ed them right back out, as a dark dust cloud followed them. Figuring that she needed some extra time, they went over to the beautiful, large backyard. Maybe if they won the lottery someday they could put a nice outdoor pool in it... and a hot spa, too. Definitely a hot spa.  
  
****  
  
I watch as Taichi casually plops down dead center of the grass field on his back. Well, maybe it isn't really a field, but back in Odaiba I didn't see too many grass patches around the resident areas...  
  
I lay down a few feet next to him, admiring how green and... fluffy... that grass is...  
  
" Ah, it's been a pretty tiring week, how about some nice companionable rest to get this school stress off of us?" Taichi suggests, staring up into the sky. I follow his lead, observing the puffs of white as they walked slowly by. PURE white... I sigh again as past memories begin to blur my mind again...  
  
Every day was like a black cloud, overflowing with acid rain that was threatening to burst at any given moment. At school, I had nothing to look forward to. At home I had nothing to look forward to. And I had no where else to go... basically, I was trapped. If my life really was going nowhere (even though I'm an almost straight A student) I could've blamed the world for it. My parents don't motivate me (only threaten), all the teachers I've come across in high school are no help and friends... I already explained that.  
  
And then... I heard about him the instant I came back from the orchestra field trip. A dark, silent Japanese transfer student in the premises. He caught my interest immediately, an opportunity that there might be another like me who I could befriend. As I walked out of my sixth hour class, I spotted a glimpse of him. No surprise, he stood out quite a bit. I would've gone after him, but with how crowded the halls were...  
  
During 7th hour, I heard the rumor of Brian getting his revenge on " that big-haired dude," for attracting Jess' attention. The hell?!? You can't blame someone for being attractive... and... well...  
  
The rumor-telling girl informed the other girls of the location... just right next to the front door entrance. If this kid was anything close to his description, he wouldn't have any support against Brian except himself.  
  
Sure enough, I swiftly followed the buffed-up bully to the front entrance, and stopped the new kid from getting his eyes punched out. I never expected much gratitude, but small turns of events have brought us closer than I ever thought possible. The similarity of our hell-hole lives, our understanding toward each other, the only practical ones in a cursed world full of pessimistic, closed minded people and any kind of that shit. And for the first time...  
  
He looks so peaceful lying there on the grass, like he's forgotten the faults of this planet for the moment. And then... it hits me. If I had never met Taichi, the world around me would have driven me off the edge. Around him, I'm relaxed, as if I'm on vacation without a care in the world. He's my stress reliever, the one who keeps me human, the one who keeps me... alive. Every time we meet, he indirectly saves my life, and I never realized it until now. I owe him the same.  
  
I stare at the clouds above me, magnificent white spots covering up the clear sky. Why is it always gray or black when he's not around? I glance at him in response to the hypothetical question. He's still relaxed, his hands pillowing his head.  
  
I feel my eyes water as the answer drives itself into my mind. I close my eyes to prevent anything from coming out, and blindly move next to him, nudging my head near his breathing chest. He suddenly exhales quickly, then holds his breathe for a lingering second. He finally breathes in, and as he exhales again, I sense his warmth surrounding me. He gently brings his arm around me, holding me, comforting me...  
  
My eyes can hold it no longer, and streaks fall down my face as I shuddered slightly, burying my head further. This feeling... for the first time, I've met someone I've WANTED to be with, I've WANTED to spend my life with, I've WANTED to become friends with, and so much... more...  
  
And while I tremble and let out everything I have been tucking inside me through tears, and he continues to hold me in silence, the answer rings in my mind again...  
  
I need him, now and forever.  
  
****  
  
Tsuzuku...  
  
****  
  
If you haven't figured it out already, random stuff was done at music camp, romance during the Charizard stuffie time... O_o;  
  
Foxy Talent Search Agency?- I was just thinking about the beginning of my Freshmen year when Paul told me that someone thought I was foxy, but he STILL hasn't told me who it is/was... it aggravates me!  
  
Taichi, chotto matte!-Tai, wait a second!  
  
I actually had Mrs. Hake in 8th grade, and for science class, rather than the one portrayed here. She's... nicer in this fic, but the rest goes true ^^;; Oh, raging pregnant science teachers... -.-   
  
Yamato's thoughts are quite similar to mine, though I haven't found that one person to comfort me... T_T  
  
Sighing off... that's not a typo...  
  
Splash  
gottaito.cjb.net 


	6. Part 5: MizuKagami

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 5: "Mizu-Kagami"

By Splash

-------

Hope this'll be worth your wait

Mizu-Kagami (Translated to Water-Mirror) is Chichiri from Fushigi Yuugi's OAV image song, the amazing Seki Tomokazu who also did Junpei in Those Who Hunt Elves and Van from Escaflowne Hey, Katie, it's another Seki! And Toshihiko isn't much different than Tomokazu... whoa, I might have trouble telling the difference... nah...

But whoa... a non Digimon/radio song... one of the few songs I actually have translated lyrics to ;; I've got too many Anime songs where I don't have a clue what they're singing about... TT I have a nasty disability to recognize Japanese in songs... I get occasional common ones, but the way they sing it... ack. I'm starting to ramble now. Translated lyrics to Mizu-Kagami are after the fic, and some omake (junk stuff), too!

Oh yeah, useless-but-interesting fact! Mr. Seki Tomakazu-cute Chichiri-crazy Junpei-sexy Van's first kiss is from a guy! Check that cafe talk thing in one of the Escaflowne DVD's.. -evil grin-

Don't mind if I seem to be losing focus on Daisuke, Ken and Takeru ;; I'm very inexperienced with them, and most of my fandom is devoted to Taito/Yamachi... but don't worry, they're in this chapter! Yeah!

Uh... I just realizing how teasing this chapter is... Oo;;

----

I wonder what brought on this sudden breakdown from him. One minute we're relaxing and the next he's crying on me... Although, I had just gotten over a breakdown a few days ago when I realized how much I really cared for him...

Perhaps... perhaps he's thinking the same thing this very moment... No, that's too much to hope for. Either way, what he needed right now was some support, something I didn't have when I needed it...

I reach my free arm over just above my other one, resting it on Yamato's neck. Seeing no resistance to my movement, I move my hand from his neck to cup his soft cheek and muffle my face into his gorgeous blonde hair. To my surprise, not only does he not mind, but he rubs his cheek against my palm affectionately... And yet, I continue to feel tears wetting my hand. Maybe he DOES feel the same way...

Experimentally, I place my thumb over his quivering lips, and somehow, it accidentally makes contact with something wet--not tears, but a tongue. He tenderly sucks on it, not like a baby bottle, more like... something else I can't describe. I'm feeling too light-headed to think anyhow..

Suddenly, he releases my thumb and turns away slightly. I feel another set of tears flowing onto my hand like tiny waterfalls as he throatily mumbles, " I'm sorry..."

" Sorry for what?"

At that, I turn myself around to face him and lower myself to see him eye to eye. Nervously, he gazes at me, eyes shimmering more than usual because of his tears. He sniffs, and then seems to be blank, as if he hadn't heard my question. I'm certain that he did, but after several minutes of absolute silence, I figure he must've been too enveloped to hear me after the apology. The blankness disappears, and he snaps as if realization had smacked him hard.

" Why do I even go on with life? I used to think there was a point to it, but ever since I moved here I discovered... there isn't. It's all pain and suffering..."

H...How long has he been thinking like this? It tears my heart to see him this way...

I notice him shift a little closer to my heated face, unafraid of me seeing him in such a condition. My eyes lock with deep cerulean ones, crystal clear, yet tainted, pulling me into an abyss...

" You have to understand..."

Pointless words, but I say them anyhow. Perhaps I can help him... I want to, desperately. I stare into those crystal eyes, pushing away the immediate impulse to meld those subtle lips onto mine. Instead, my arms squeeze him tighter and bring myself even closer to him, brushing past those tempting lips and pressing my cheek against his, so that I can whisper into his ear...

" There ARE good things in life, Yama..." I murmur, savoring the closeness of the embrace, feeling the wetness on his face, " sometimes, you just need to have someone to share them with."

I pull back hesitantly, to see if anything got through to him. And yes, it seems to work...

" Yamato..."

The sound of my voice causes his lips to separate and breathe through his mouth, reverberating over mine. And before I realize it, the few inches between our faces have shrunk drastically.

" Tai..chi..." he speaks in short phrases. " I think... I think, that maybe... maybe, I've... found... that..."

Shrinking...

" ...that someone..."

Even though his tears have faded away, I can sense another fresh batch on the verge of being released, maybe because my own eyes are watering. And my heart, racing to the point where it'll be demolished completely if he pulls back or go insane if he keeps going, makes me wonder whether I'll faint at any given second. I've never come this close to fainting before... and unless it's just me, he's still going...

Just one more tiny effort...

" TAICHIIII!"

In a split second, whatever bit of magic that erupted in the background dissipates, and we pull apart as much as possible... except for my arm, which is still held down by his head.

" It's time for dinner!"

My mother steps out to check on us, perks an eye at my arm, but says no more and heads back into the house. Yamato and I lie there in that position for several minutes, breathing heavily as if getting the fright of our lives. And well, maybe it was.

...Tch.

She always had bad timing.

I take a questioning glance towards Yamato, who seems bewildered, but more normal than he was previously. Without a word, he lifts himself off my arm onto his feet, brushing off his pants. He turns his back to me, and for a moment I think he's going to walk in silence. Instead, he turns to me, and with an authentic smile, lends a hand.

' Some other day, possibly.'

I return the smile, accepting the hand, and we enter the house to enjoy our dinner of... overcooked ramen noodles.

Maybe I'LL have to cook from now on...

----

September 2, 2002

I had managed to get through the weekend without thinking too much about that one Japanese, big-haired brunette. After that one afternoon, I've been afraid...

In the mornings, we usually walked to school together. He'd stop by my house and we'd continue on our way... but this time I called him at last minute and quickly, to the point, told him that I had overslept and that he should go on without me. I didn't give him much opportunity to respond, as I literally hung up to slop back down to think some more, only to be distracted watching Taichi pass my house several minutes later.

We usually hung out at school for half an hour before 1st hour began, but I just avoided him with a little game of hide and seek...

3rd hour was inevitable, but luckily Mr. Andrews cut in before we could get any chit-chat going.

And then there was lunch and orchestra... I don't know HOW I got past that... but orchestra auditions were coming up. They had to be on the 3rd or 4th, but I have violin lessons on Tuesdays, so I had to go for the 4th. By the time the others had finished signing up for a time (first come, first serve), the only spot left was the one after Taichi's..

Sigh... Maybe I'll come a bit later and make up some excuse...

----

September 4, 2002

4:00 p.m.

" A BOY BAND? We've been offered to start a new BOY BAND!"

The boy wearing a unique hat stepped over. " That's what is says on the paper... is there something wrong with that, Daisuke?"

" Wrong? Of COURSE there is! Everybody hates boy bands except for ditzes, preps, and teeny-boppers!"

Takeru sweatdropped. " Where did you get that impression? I may not know that much about them, but I don't think they're much different than the ones from Japan."

" Now see here, Takeru," Daisuke dictated, pointing an accusing finger at the other, " I've been here 4 months longer than you, and a person can learn a hell of a lot more about American ways in that amount of time!"

The blonde shielded himself. " Mou.. gomen.."

His curiosity sparked, the shy raven-haired boy entered the conversation. " How long HAVE you been here, guys?"

As if he had never been irritated in the first place, Daisuke plastered a huge smile on his face. " Takeru moved in the middle of last summer, and we ran into each other in a supermarket."

" A supermarket...?"

" Our moms made us follow them," Takeru answered sulkily.

The goggle boy glanced over at the paper, its red border catching his attention. " Well, I've always wanted to show off my dancing skills..."

Takeru placed a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. " We can give it a try, we don't really have a reputation to lose here, so why not?"

Ken observed the scene in silence. ' They always make some kind of movement when they touch each other, but I can't tell whether it's from surprise or...'

" I guess so..." Daisuke replied, still somewhat reluctant. " Takeru, you're good with business stuff, aren't ya? Could you contact whoever sent this? It's..." He scanned the paper quickly. " MRS. HAKE?"

" That makes sense," the blonde commented, " She's the first and only person we've sung to here. Ken, we didn't hear anything from you."

He just shrugged. " Why not give it a try? It's not every day you get an offer like this."

----

4:32 p.m.

Briefly pondering over what she just heard, she asked the other person in the small room, " Do you take private lessons, Taichi?"

The other person sighed shortly, finishing his audition. " I did in Japan, but I'm still yet to find a liable teacher here."

Mrs. Hinderliter gave a startled movement, surprised at how well the boy spoke for a foreign student. Since she always came into class late, she didn't have any time before class to get to know any of her students. Of course, with how she was, she remained oblivious to the effect this had on her orchestra and went on conducting as usual. She had an awful lot of faults that Taichi could pick out easily...

' But maybe I can get to the good side of her... I hear she really chews out the ones she dislikes...' the brunette planned earlier before his audition. There were three other celloists (a pretty high number, actually) , one was a somewhat haughty, male freshman whose mother was the choir teacher, the second male was another freshman who didn't take private lessons, but was still a pleasant asset to the orchestra. The third was a junior (or a senior?) who was much like an older, female version of the pleasant asset.

" I'm recommending you to Grace Field, she will DEFINITELY want to get a hear. She's an excellent teacher and she's well known in this music community." She wandered over to her messy desk, pulling out a slip of paper and writing several numbers on it. " Here's her number."

He accepted the piece of processed tree, cramming it into his breast pocket and heading out her office door after bidding farewell. He was in the midst of returning the school instrument to the storage room when...

" Yamato!"

Instead of staying as the brunette had intended him to do, he dropped his violin case and immediately exited the wooden double doors of the orchestra room.

" Hey-!" Cello bow forgotten and fallen, Taichi stormed through the doors, swiftly catching the other by the wrist. To his surprise, there was some silent resistance before the blonde figure made an about-face, presenting an expressionless demeanor.

" Oh, hey, Taichi..."

Taichi held onto his wrist, despite being aware of the other's uneasiness. " Yeah, um... you've been kind of distant lately. Is something wrong?"

" No."

The answer was almost TOO firm... " Don't humor me, Yamato."

The skin on the blonde's wrist seemed to jump at the comment, enough so that Taichi could sense it through his palm. He peered down at the arm for a moment, and then back up at Yamato's face, full of anxiety and apprehension.

Slowly, Taichi spoke. " I'm serious, Yama. If anything is bothering you, I'll always be there for you." He paused, lowering his hand to lace with Yamato's, " Even if I have to jump off Tokyo Tower to be there, I will." Squeezing tighter, he added, as if making sure the other had heard him, " Yaru."

Yamato gave one long blink before answering. " I... I'm just having a few family problems, that's all." A lie it was, but not a complete one.

" Does that have anything to do with why you've 'overslept' these past few days?"

Noticing the emphasis on the quoting, the violin player lowered his head in humiliation. It was then that he realized the location of Taichi's hand, forcing a small blush to arise. He lowered his head even further to hide his predicament.

Seeing him sulk, Taichi presumed that maybe he was being a little harsh. 

" Na, Yamato... gomen," he apologized, " Honto ni... gomen. But I'm worried that you don't trust me with your concerns. You know I'd do anything to help."

Recovering, Yamato tilted his head back up to see the sincerity marking Taichi's face. He wanted to tell him right there and then, but his voiced failed him, and all he could utter was the other's name.

Worry outlining the crevice of his lips, Taichi sighed, eyes shutting despairingly. " It's all right if you're not ready to discuss it. I can wait."

" You'll wait?" he asked, as if he needed reassurance.

Taichi smiled brightly, causing a pleasing eye-lift from the other. " I'll wait, but I'm pretty sure Mrs. Hinderliter won't. Now go do your audition, she's probably wondering what's taking you so long." He let go of Yamato's hand to give him a pat on the shoulder, perhaps holding on too long...

But the blonde showed no sign of perceiving the hold as he gave a short smile before turning away to re-enter the orchestra room. His hand remained in mid-air for a moment before slowly retracting back to his side. Glancing at the closed double doors, he willed the pit in his stomach to fade away. " Play your heart out, kid."

----

Tsuzuku...

----

Mou.. gomen..- "Gese.. sorry.."

Yaru-"I will/I'll do it." I was just thinking about Kodomo no Omocha, Hayama's response when Mr. Narunaru offered him to take karate lessons. Heh, you'd have to know the series to know why that's the least bit amusing

Na, Yamato... gomen. Honti ni... gomen.- "Hey, Matt... sorry. I'm truly sorry." Males tend to use "na" instead of the feminine "ne."

Yes, I know this chapter sucked... blame it on school stress :P Or maybe it's the stuff I'm getting high on because our house was refloored on the main floor with wood and we just got it polished... and that stuff... FUME! 

Anyhow, I think some of you are wondering about why I'm pulling in so much physical angst... XD In other words, cuddly-ness without actually knowing whether it's out of friendship or love... Nyah... Well, if you've seen enough of the official pictures of the Bish boys they're pretty cuddly with each other anyhow, especially Tai and Yama

But plot is there... right? Almost too much for my style -- Again, the school-ness of the plot may seem to lack Yaoi now, but I'm still creating the setting, it's WAY too based on my actual school... but that's the most interesting part of it all And uh... I just hope those people I described in the orchestra never read this if I said anything negative about them ;;

Here's a weird little map of the orchestra/choir room that'll be useful in future parts

-----------------------------

Choir 

ofce. Orch.

---- Orchestra/ ofce.

Choir Room ----- --- Hallway to band room

Make -------- --------

Up Storage Practice

Room RoomDble.Rooms 

Doors 

---------------- ---------

-400 rooms Hallway Exit-

------------------------------

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

Splash

http/gottaito. 


	7. Part 6: Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 6: "Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw"

By Splash

-------

Notes: Sorry this chapter took so long, my life's been pretty hectic ;; And plus, an extra inspiration has come up that made me think up of some new ideas... -evil grin- Funny coincidence that I did "Mizu-Kagami" before I had any certain high respects for Tomokazu Seki, but now it's skyrocketed even further :-D One word... Gravitation!

Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw ("Alone on a see-saw") is Yamato's coupling song to "Tobira," the title of the single "his band, 'Teenage Wolves,'" released, translated lyrics are after this chapter

Translations (helps if you know them before reading this)

Okaasan-Mother

Otousan-Father

Suffixes:

-San: Said to someone you speak to formally, almost like Mr. or Ms.

-Sama: Lord, Master, someone you serve, blah blah

-Chan: Usually used for little girls or anyone who is seemed as "cute." Also used commonly in pet names...

Kami-sama: God

Ma.. Ii ka...: Often translated as "Oh well" but I like, "It's all good.."

Gakkou: School

Pocky: A common Japanese snack, in this case a cracker/pretzel-like stick covered with chocolate. Shuuichi (Tomokazu Seki) from Gravitation likes the strawberry ones

----

September 13, 2002

It's been two weeks since I came to my realization, yet Taichi and I continue to have some kind of awkward, close friendship. I'm not sure if I can settle for this, whether it's too much or too little. It's almost confusing, yet comprehendible. Ah, these oxymorons...

Last Friday okaasan had insisted to drag me to find some more school clothes, though I didn't need any. And guess who I happened to run into... an old playmate back in Japan... he couldn't recognize me with my new hairstyle, or so I thought. Actually, it took me longer to recognize HIM, which was quite sad since he looked exactly like an older version of the Takeru Takaishi I knew.

He claimed that he needed to find more American style clothing for a boy band he was going to be in. Strange, I never thought he would go into music, especially since he's still in middle school. Either way, I wished him luck with his band, gave him my e-mail address, and we've been swapping e-mail ever since.

" Yamato--

We had our first meeting last Saturday for the band, and Daisuke seems to be the best dancer out of the three of us. We have two hour meetings Monday and Wednesday, and then whatever time we have on the weekends. They really need to get more organized on that part...

Anyhow, in the last meeting I suggested that we just don't dance, because it isn't really our specialty and we needed to focus more on the music. Our producer was really reluctant about our decision, but he let us go with it anyhow. He was also wondering if we would like to ask some older members to join, and I said that there was a possibility. Do you know who he might be? -winks-"

" Takeru-san,

...Only if Taichi can join me, too. Did I ever tell you about him? He's also Japanese, and I don't know where I would be without him... my parents and school give me a hell of a time."

" Yamato--

...Anou...

Sure, you can invite Taichi, too! The producer says that any group over 5 would be too many, though, so I hope you don't have to drag anybody else in while you're at it. Either way, I'd like to meet this Taichi guy!

P.S. You don't have to call me -san. ;;"

" To Takeru-sama,

We'll see. Taichi's coming over tomorrow, if you'd like, you can drop on by, too. He'll be here for a pretty long time."

" Yamato--

I'll go do that. I'll tell you more about the band tomorrow.

P.S. How about just plain Takeru? Oo;"

" To Takeru-chan,

No. I refuse:-P"

----

September 14, 2002

Taichi's eyes shined brightly at the sight before him, pupils dancing with joy with the reflection of the light.

" Yamato... you... you..."

Inside his mind was screaming like a fangirl, ' Oh, Kami-sama! REALLY?' but physically he felt as if he was going to collapse. He never had a clue...

All of a sudden, skeptimism ran through his veins, and he curled his eyebrows in doubt. " Are you telling the truth?"

In front of him, Yamato's half-grin twitched. " Of course..."

Unconvinced, Taichi stepped forward so he was barely a foot away from the other. With his face sparkling with seriousness, he strickly commanded, " Prove it."

Yamato imitated the brown-eyed's expression.

" All right. I will."

At that point, they stared at each other for an everlasting minute, neither daring to initiate anything. Taichi slightly jerked his head to the bottom of his right side, indicating the small bench next to them.

" I know," replied the blonde.

Yamato, still in staring stance, slowly wedged over to the furniture, sliding his lofty legs to sit on it. He focused on the large object before him. And then...

All around the house, the tune of a melodious piano song rang in the air.

" Yamaaaaa! It's true! It's true!" Yamato's passionate playing was interrupted by an abrupt hug, causing him to spoil his perfect performance. " I've always wanted to hear someone play that song live!"

" Ma.. Ii ka..." Yamato said to himself as he rested his hands on the vanilla-colored keys.

" I could just kiss you!" Taichi blurted, craning his neck over Yamato's shoulder to commence his statement. But he hesitated impetuously for who-knows-why...

Noting the other's intimation, a large gap of silence filled the house, contrasting its earlier state.

" Um, I-I'll go fix something to eat," Yamato flustered finally, releasing himself from Taichi's grip and quickly exiting the room.

A brief blink of confusion bestowed the young brunette, and he took a step back. Feeling the need to concentrate on something besides reflecting on what just happened, he looked upon other things...

' Other thoughts, other thoughts... Gakkou... french... les vitres... Oh, look. There's a trash can under the window," some sudden impulse persuaded him to peer into the wastebasket to observe the crumbles of paper that were carelessly thrown away.

The paper was neatly written, much neater than the brunette could do in his life, he bet...

" Perhaps life is simply overrated. Humans like to have the best in life, to see the best things, hear the most pleasant sounds, smell the sensual aromas, taste the delicacies, touch the temptations...

If anyone has lived without fear of doing any of these... well... that wouldn't be part of life. It would be near impossible to go without fearing ALL senses. Especially senses that are not common...

But one tends to have the most difficulty in one specific sense of life. The desire to feel, be near someone, feel their heat radiating across dimensions, the need to feel needed. And that pit that develops within the burrows of the stomach... It could easily be referred to as " Butterflies," but that would be too miniscule. It goes much deeper than that.

Young love may be looked down upon more than an average person thinks. The "average person" is defined any which way one presumes it to be, yet the numbers are still there. Those who abhor their children and juveniles to experience a fact of maturing are condemning them to loneliness. And even then, it is usually meaningless to prevent them from a sensory humans have experienced since they first existed hundreds of thousands of years ago. Unless they were to do something as drastic as "injecting them with chemicals to hold back hormones," they cannot withdraw an important part of life. It is absolutely immoral and if viewed carefully enough, is even an element of slavery... oppression of a cowardly kind.

Going off the topic of sounding similar to a civil rights activist, a juvenile may think he or she is receiving the worst treatment on the issue of love. The individual may get a sense that no one else could possibly feel the same way, yet the youth may also perceive that adults would never understand, hence another gap between family relations develops. Some individuals may actually be aware that they aren't the only ones suffering as they are, but it is only natural for the fleeting thought to occur. Humans relying on stereotypes will remain oblivious to these individuals' actual knowledge, believing that " No, they DO think that the world revolves around them."

Then, there are people whose vision goes beyond all else. Their opinion reaches a point where they're fed up with the propoganda and prejudice of the world, and they have to retract the urge to stand up and shout. Why do they hold back? Why not share the knowledge and rid this planet of such rancid filth?

...Who would actually do something about it? Would their voices even be heard?

What IS "it," anyhow? It is not a neccessity of life, any human can die without it... but yet, those who have it are able to believe themselves as Kings or Queens, the top of the world, complete with jesters and musicians. If only it were to be distributed equally enough... but hoping for that would be a waste of time. Still, it-"

" You up for chocolate Pocky? It's the fudge kind."

Taichi scrambled his hands with the papers he was engrossed in. He peered at the small brown stick pointed at his nose. " Un..."

The other detected the object in Taichi's clasp, and sharply made a grab for them. Since he was caught off guard from the Pocky the blonde was quite successful.

Yamato gave a small rasp of breath. " Do you always look through people's trash?"

Taichi, blinking casually, took the Pocky piece that was beginning to annoy him. " Just this once. Did you write that?"

" Th... That's none of your business."

Taichi kept his stare strong on the blonde. " Music isn't enough to release emotional tension, is it?"

" I..." Yamato gaped slightly at his revelation, " I was just trying it out, that's all."

The brunette smiled thoughtfully. " You should finish it sometime. I'd love to read it."

Yamato glanced at the papers, words out of focus. " Maybe... I was about to finish it, but I decided against it because..."

Mrs. Ishida stepped into the room just in time for Taichi to see her rather than the blush on Yamato's face.

" Hello, Mrs. Ishida," Taichi greeted.

" Hello, Taichi," she replied, effortless to hide her callous tone, " Yamato, could you rake the leaves in the front yard?"

" I'll do it later, okaasan," Yamato said calmly.

" Why not now?"

The blonde rebounded with half-shock. " Okaasan," he repeated, repentance glowering in his voice, " I have a guest. Don't you think it would be somewhat disrespectful?"

The look on Mrs. Ishida's face might as well been plastered with the words " PISH-POSH. Who gives a fruck about that?"

To save them from further trouble, Taichi raised his arm as a sign to relax. " That's okay, Mrs. Ishida. I'll help Yamato is you don't mind."

Mrs. Ishida smiled, obviously pleased. " That would be nice. I need to do some yoga. If you'll excuse me, then." She walked off, leaving Taichi and Yamato to quirk at her strange antics.

----

" Urgh! She's so impatient and demanding! Why didn't she just become a CEO of some company so she can take out all her orders on people who have some kind of motivation to carry them out? I'm lucky just to get a bed to sleep in."

Taichi paused briefly and leaned on his rake while Yamato continued to attack the leaves. " What about your room? Food? Clothes? Education?" he queried, bemused. " Er, scratch education."

" My room is more like a place that only I can clean, which my parents force me to do every other day," he said, spotting an unusually green leaf out of the pile of dead, " Rooms were made so people could have some sense of privacy, right? I don't get any. Okaasan barges in whenever she feels like it... no sense of other's privacy at ALL."

" That's hard to believe."

" You'll find out someday..." he grumbled, " One day we'll just be going along on our business when WHAMMO, there she is, barging in when she isn't supposed to."

Taichi blinked, lifting his weight off his rake. " We...?"

The other must of not heard him, since he rambled on, " Sure my parents are the ones to buy groceries, but we rarely go to restaurants, and I do all the cooking, in which otousan ALWAYS criticize no matter how I get it to a professional's style. When I ask them if they can do any better they just brush it off somehow and we eat the rest of the meal in silence. It drives me nuts!"

" Yamato--"

Ignoring the small intrusion, Yamato firmly gripped his rake and opened his arms wide so he was clearly visible. " And these clothes? Every one of them... hand me downs from other relatives. I'm lucky to have so many cousins."

" YAMA."

Finally noticing that the view of the brunette in front of him was replaced by only a rake, he blinked in surprise and tightened the grip on his rake even further as he felt warmth making its way around his neck. A breathe of peaceful air on the back of his hair caused him to silence himself.

" Didn't I tell you?" he whispered intimately, " There ARE good things in life, but right now you're looking through the wrong mirror."

Yamato's stomach hollowed out and his arms brought themselves back to his sides in surrender.

" Why couldn't I have been born to actual parents? Why do they have to be so single-minded? Why can't I just disappear..." he trailed off, a defeated look on his face.

" You're feeling awfully negative today, na?" Taichi said softly, " Please, just... stop it. I... I need you here, Yama," he couldn't help but flutter his eyes slightly in the scent of Yamato's hair.

" Taichi..." his voice cracked, but that was ignored as he leaned his upper half back against the other, eyelids closing in contentment. But as they did so, a tear escaped its trenches, making its way down his light cheek. It fell onto Taichi's layer-clothed arm, deeping its already dark blue hue.

' This feels... familiar...'

That moment could have lasted forever if other situations had permitted it. But as foul's worth, an unclear shout from a distance made Taichi remember their chore, and he proceeded to retrieve his rake. He paused for a moment while Yamato gazed toward the sound, the hollowing in his stomach refusing to diminish this time.

Another blurry shout reached their ears, but Yamato shouted and waved toward it...

" Takeru-chan!"

" DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

" I refuuuuuse!"

' Chan...' Taichi pondered. ' Maybe.'

----

Tsuzuku...

----

Eek, it's 11:30 p.m. and there's cursed school tomorrow, oh well, there's a usual. I'm lucky if I can sleep before the day ends :P I think I'll need to drag in school again soon...

Anyhow, I really didn't like how this chapter worked... mm, I can't write well under stress --

Translated lyrics for Hitori Bocchi no Seesaw... - This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

You guess what the see-saw represents in this fic

Splash

http/gottaito. 


	8. Part 7: Santa Monica

-  
The Bishounen Boys Part 7: "Santa Monica"  
By Splash -------

Ouch, long wait for this chapter. I've had so much crap to do, but I really wanted to get some of this out... we all need a little Taito to our daily lives...

This chapter is dedicated to Katie, Paul, Leanne and Chris who amazingly all read this fic... OO; Although, one would have to know them (or read my Livejournal :P) in order to understand why that surprises me...

"Santa Monica" is by Savage Garden, and the lyrics have nothing to do with this chapter. Santa Monica just happens to be my recent American song addiction along with Drops of Jupiter. But absolutely NOTHING --let alone a song, that could explain the randomness in this chapter... :P Maybe I'll get songs that are actually relevent sometime...

Lots of Japanese this time, sorry if it's too much ;  
Ja ne-"See you later" sometimes shortened to "Ja"  
Hen desu ne- That's weird Yoroshiku- "Nice to meet you" kind of thing.  
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu- A more formal form of "Yoroshiku" used when greeting someone in a higher rank than yourself.  
Sa- Come on (in this context)  
Itai- That hurts Hanase yo- Let go ("yo" is added to assume a command form)  
Doushita?- What's wrong?  
Dosukoi- Sumo wrestler exclamation Urusei-Be quiet

There's one sentence I left unattended which will be explained at the end notes.

One more thing. Yes, I do know what Newton's actual laws of gravity are.

----

September 14, 2002

It was a vivid view, that fall day. The migrating Canadian geese wailed as they flew by, warning the foreign boy below as he wandered through the aging grass. He didn't bother to look up, but as their blaring faded away into the distance he was somehow reminded of the doppler effect he learned about in science earlier that day.

" Hmph, how pointless."

Re-adjusting his hat, he took in the sight before him, a large patch of decaying trees fraying their feeders onto Yamato's vacant lawn. His long time friend stood in front of the unknown face, who was clad with layers. His long sleeve with a deep hue of blue was partially covered with a short sleeve tee.

A rusted leaf lost its grip on its home and slowly fluttered down. It hovered and landed point up on Yamato's head, but stammered in the defying wind. After some struggle, it tripped and came into contact with Yamato's vision. Without moment's notice, he gritted his teeth and snatched the leaf, emitting a small crunch, and tossed it with its relatives in the dispose pile.

" De? What's this about a boy band?" Yamato questioned.

As if he had forgotten before, the younger blonde raised his eyebrows and shuffled through his pocket. With some hunting, he pulled out a sheet of paper and gave it to the older pair.

" A local contest? I thought you said that your connections would get you past these small fries."

" Well, they can't do ALL the work... even though we're starting off small, we've got a great manager and the equipment to make THE best music. I guess I meant more on the potential side when I said all that..." Takeru idly tilted his head, slightly shamed at being misinterpreted. " This contest just happens to be the earliest event to help us get a feel of what live performance is around here. After that, we'll start tearing the charts."

" Are you that confident that you'll even win the local contest? We just might make it worse," Taichi gave a dry grin.

" You guys are in orchestra, right? You'll do fine. Plus, you've got other talents that we younger people don't. We can use that kind of stuff."

" I wouldn't apply that to all of the orchestra students..." Yamato nudged a muttering Taichi while trying to keep a straight expression toward Takeru.

Takeru looked thoughtful for a moment, then turned his glance toward Taichi. " Can I assume you're the friend Yamato has been talking about constantly?"

The brunette in question grinned while a rosy tint smothered itself against Yamato's cheeks. " Constantly? Why, of course!" he replied good-heartedly, vision darting towards Yamato for a split moment. " Yagami Taichi. Yoroshiku."

" Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," Takeru said, nodding respectively. The trio spoke casually for several minutes, with Yamato and Taichi rattling off about their wonderful school system with perfect sarcasm. Takeru spoke mainly about the other Japanese people in his grade, Daisuke's somewhat queer brashness and Ken's contemptuous stillness. Their personality contrasts were quite amusing if one witnessed them in person, actually.

" Okay, we'll try it," Yamato stated out of the blue.

" Huh?"

" The band, I mean. What time is your next meeting?"

Takeru's already bright face lightened up even further. " Tomorrow at noon, actually. Just come after lunch or something," he said, lifting his watch to his face. " Oh, I need to get going. I've got another 'shopping spree,' with okaasan to go to. Ja ne."

Yamato and Taichi bid their farewells, but didn't spend any extra time dwindling. Not long after, they went back to their raking. " I'll have to convince my mom to let me go. She has this thing about not letting me do any social activities two days in a row unless they're completely about my academics."

Taichi carelessly bent an arm behind his head to itch something the wind had irritated. " Wow, my parents are just the other way around. They'd jump at any opportunity for me to become popular. They're more than half the reason why I joined the soccer team. Why are your parents like that? Hen desu ne..."

" I wouldn't be surprised if they really DID want me to be anti-social. But that's only ONE of their faults..."

" Yamato..."

Yamato blinked heavily and looked up at Taichi. " What am I saying? I shouldn't be troubling you with my problems. You should go home, you've done too much for me already." He turned to focus on the ground, but was forced back by Taichi's hand on his cheek.

" I'm not leaving yo-... I'm not leaving, Yamato," he murmured, taking another step forward to catch a firmer grip of Yamato's unusually soft flesh. " You're going to have to do a lot more than that to get rid of me."

Unable to think of a reply, Yamato simply stood rigid on the cool fall ground. He'd already opened up to Taichi more than he ever did to anyone in his past. It was always the same thing from person to person; none of them knew anything about the blonde, not even Takeru. Hell, Yamato had never even cried in the presence of anyone except Taichi...

' How does he do that?...' It scared him that he adored every movement Taichi made, every vibration that sounded his concern for Yamato. He could have told him then. After all, it was the perfect time. No one else was around... but then again, he spent a great deal of his time with Taichi. Confessing after such a long time would be uneasy to him. How many times had he passed up the opportunity? Fearing the possible events that would follow if he addressed the issue, he held himself back. The issue that had plagued him ever since his breakdown...

In attempt to avoid the situation once more, he absorbed himself in the presence of the exquisite firey leaves surrounding them.

...What the fruck? Leaves aren't exquisite...

What the heck was he doing? His eyes narrowed droopily. ' Something still seems to be missing. Maybe it just isn't the right time..."

The awkward stillness tensed Taichi's position, so he smiled affectionately, then released his hold on Yamato. " Sa, these leaves aren't going to rake themselves, you know."

Yamato nodded solemnly, ignoring the pain that was enveloping him.

Nothing else could be more forlorn as Taichi at that moment, as he continued the job at task. ' Not ready yet, na? I'll still be waiting when you are, Yama...'

----

September 15, 2002

Taichi's hand hovered over the brick wall of the hallway for a moment. " There's something about this place..." He sweeped his hand between the cracks, flowing like running water through them. " Vivid and stunning..."

Yamato whacked him companionately on the head. " Don't get poetic on me right now. Come on." He yanked a bushel of his messy brunette hair.

" Itai naaaaaa! Hanase yo!" Taichi lashed out on the other, causing the blonde to form a surprised expression.

The expression quickly reversed to hurt, although the brunette had not intended for Yamato to see it.

" Taichi?" he said cautiously. " ...Doushita?"

Taichi shook his head briefly before resurrecting his usual smile. " Nothing, really. Guess I just overreacted."

A small, discrete door with the dark area in the far back was only indicated by a sliver of yellow tape Takeru had slapped on there. Taichi discovered that there was no doorknob and attempted to push the portal, but it wouldn't budge. He gave it a heave and a ho, and even a dosukoi, but his efforts were still fruitless. The door was like a sleeping rhinoceros, stubborn and... just plain weird.

Yamato offered to help, and did so even when the other refused. Still nil. Still a rhino. They wondered whether this was some kind of inane joke. With a silent transfer of nods, they backed to the other wall and lunged forward simultaneously, planning to tear away the entry.

As soon as they made contact with the door, something seemed-- wrong. All of a sudden, there was no resistance. What they expected to hold them back became nonexistant. Gone, spent, zip. The rhinoceros turned into a dead VCR. Obsolete just like all the other ones. Make way for the DVD. Welcome, and enter the world of the new and improved being, the mighty zebra. More sleek, more graceful, brighter colors (away with the monotone gray!), and better sound than the rhinoceros. Sorry, rhino, DVD's are in.

But once in motion, still in motion, as Newton's laws go. Or something to that effect. The duo clattered on the floor on the other side of the door, the heavy impact blurring out their senses to dull out the pain that followed. All Taichi could think about was why it was so difficult before. They couldn't possibly overestimate...

" Yamato, never took you as the type who preferred to be on bottom. How's it like down there?"

Takeru's voice brought them back, as they realized their promising position was quite the sight. They scrambled to upright themselves, scaring off the dust on their sleeves and smiling coyly at the audience.

" I like them already..." said a deep voice in the corner of the room. " Where did you find them?"

Taichi and Yamato glanced around and spotted the tall man who appeared before them. He introduced himself as Ross, their producer. He was a full foot taller than everyone else in the room, everyone being the five boys and Mrs. Hake, who supervised their progress. It was her actions that brought negative consideration out of Takeru. ' She's just cashing us in,' he had noted, ' Just like she's hit an oil goldmine.'

" I've already told you, I've known Yamato ever since I was a little kid," the smaller blonde replied.

Eyes closed, Yamato held back a laugh. " Omae wa mada hanatarekozou."

Takeru's eye twitched. " Urusei..."

Puzzled at the conversation, Ross felt the need to keep himself occupied. He spoke to Taichi for a while, exchanging more introduction and then finally getting down to the point. " All right, let's see what you've got."

" Guh..." Taichi blinked at him, " How?"

Ross took a step back, surprised to be asked such a simple, yet stupefying question. ' Well, they aren't cocky, that's nice...' However, he still felt that they would be able to think of something to show off. Taichi remained confused, getting no response and absolutely clueless as to what he should do. He peered over to Yamato, and although the blonde didn't show it, he seemed to be in just the same state.

Fearing a bad first (or second) impression, Takeru suggested that they sing an American son they both knew. They went through the list of the bands they knew, even going through some of the female ones. But at each turn there was some type of objection. One wouldn't know the band, didn't know any of their songs enough to sing them, or just didn't feel like singing them at the time. Someone, be it Takeru or Ross, was about to throw a tantrum at the neverending debate, but in the knick of time, the duo finally chose a song...

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

There was a complete silence. Ken had stopped staring at the walls, Daisuke had woken up from an unwanted doze, and there was some hint of a smirk on Takeru's lips. Mrs. Hake was once again shaking, but attempted to hide it by creeping into the shadows of the walls. Taichi and Yamato were facing each other, staring as if... if...

Ross gave one nod and then clapped his hands together, making a snapping noise that startled everyone. " Good. Let's work up a song for the contest, shall we?"

----

September 18, 2002

Sun rays glimmered onto Taichi's sleeping face, stimulating a small cringe between his pores. Another rigorous morning was on its way... After conjuring up the will to rouse, he gave one long stretch with his arms and groaned mentally as the bed creaked from his movements. His first thought... Lunch that day would be French toast sticks with sausage. Eck. True as it was, the only thing that motivated him to even wake up to the new day was a certain blonde vision that prodded his mind at every available moment.

It also happened to be right there with him as he walked down the path towards the school, speaking flippantly on the subject of the annoyance of telemarketing.

" There was this one guy who called us at about four in the afternoon asking for my parents," he went on, " I told him to call back in a couple hours, and he started going about saying, ' oh, so you want me to call during dinner time so you have an excuse to get off? Is that it? So you don't LIKE being called during dinner time! Oh, I see...'"

Taichi chuckled lightly. " I haven't seen that on you before, Yamato," the brunette mused, creating a perfect excuse to observe him, full body from head to pert ass-er, toe. Yeah. Lovely... shoe-covered toe... He was clad with a very casual black sweater that seemed to outline his more attractive features...

Yamato took Taichi's head shaking as an opportunity to release the blush he had been holding back. " My mom bought me some new clothes a few days ago..."

Taichi slapped his palm on the other's shoulder. " See? Not everything you have are hand me downs."

Remembering that certain scenario earlier, Yamato hesitated from any further comment. He remained tree-formed for several moments, trying to keep a nonchalant face at the heat near his neck.

The cello player observed this and fished around his conscious for something to relieve the tension. " It looks good on you. I like it."

...Pickles. Wrong word choice, Yagami.

Either which way, it was something... Taichi brought his hand back into his pant pocket.

" Arigatou..." The blush on Yamato's face was more than apparent now, but Taichi assumed it was because he wasn't used to hearing such compliments. Himself, he had lost track of all the fan screams he had received for his soccer playing. Speaking of which, he needed to get a waiver form to finish off his physical education credits...

On extreme coincidence, Yamato asked, " How's soccer?"

Amusing how those two words could fit so well with his thoughts. Readjusting the weight on his shoulders (he always wondered how Yamato could stand carrying his violin to and from school so often...), Taichi shrugged as the pair continued their stroll. " There's some really nice players in this school, but I haven't gotten to know them yet. They haven't really spoken to me."

" Why not?" Yamato queried, although he probably knew the answer already.

Taichi slowed his pace on the sidewalk, delaying the arrival to the school that was in clear sight in front of them. He then stopped altogether, bringing an intrigued look on Yamato's face as he followed. He got one long blank look from the brunette before they continued on the path again.

' Heh,' Yamato thought, ' HE knows that I know...the difference.'

----

Tsuzuku...

----

I warned you about the randomness..

Mm.. much shorter than I wanted, but I did cut out a lot of parts that were incomplete that will be in the next chapter instead, so expect the next one to come a little faster... hopefully. ; Life has been tough.

Anyone interested in getting an Mp3 of Savage Garden's Santa Monica can request it to be sent to their streamload account (http/ along with other requests, check my site for a full list.

Omae wa mada hanatarekozou-You're still a snotty-nosed kid.

Omake: Check out the profile section that has been recently completed, with pics for all 5 Bish Boys http/ inspirational reviews would be sugoi... (awesome, spectacular, excellent, super, extravagant, any other synonyms... okay, now I'm just wasting word-count numbers --) for they will motivate my muses to conjure up the next chapter if you so wish it.

Splash http/gottaito. 


	9. Part 8: Kaze

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 8: "Kaze"

By Splash

-------

I meant to release one large chapter including the contest, but it's already WAY too long already so I had to save some for the next chapter... again... XD Oh well, that's good news for you! Long chapter in this round and the next chapter shouldn't take as much time.

"Kaze" is the coupling song to Wada Kouji's "The Biggest Dreamer," which is the opening song for Digimon Tamers. Translated lyrics are after the chapter.

This chapter is... well... Taichi-centric except for the first blurb. Wai.

Gomen na... ore kimochi warui.- Sorry... I feel sick.

Moshi moshi-Hello (telephone greeting)

----

October 2002

The day of the local contest was drawing near. It would be held on a Friday night, when the stress of schoolwork was lessened and teenagers would be able to enjoy music more. The boys spent literally half their time deciding on what song they wanted to sing, making sure that it was appropriate for the rules and it was a song that they were ready for.

It was Taichi's personal favorite song, much to the dismay of the other members. Each one wanted to do his favorite, after all. However, Taichi was able to motivate them enough with the prophecy that their success in the local contest would bring in better crowds to hear their favorites.

So they worked the song for many practices, getting the harmonies to perfection and modifying the runs in the background. While Taichi and Yamato worked on their vocals, Takeru and Daisuke handled the synthesizers. Daisuke had some previous knowledge of the machine before coming to America, and Takeru helped him learn the rest of the tricks to be a little more than decent at it. Ken became interested watching the two expertly handle the buttons and switches and asked if they would teach him.

" Ken, I would concentrate on the vocals if I were you," Takeru answered him, " The synthesizer takes much more time than we have for this contest. It's better if we get this song to its best so we can worry about the long-term things afterwards."

Ken reluctantly agreed with him. It depressed him when he got rejected, even though there were probably no harsh feelings behind it. He joined Taichi and Yamato in their singing practice. They welcomed him warmly, but as they practiced Ken couldn't help but feel edged by the connection he sensed between the two older boys. It was obvious they had something deeply established, which depressed the raven-haired boy even further. Even though he was pretty close with Takeru and Daisuke, he wasn't sure if he had any value in their view. Besides, who would appreciate a gloomy, contemptuous and undeserving person like him...?

----

October 9, 2002

" It should be at least 5 pages, which shouldn't be difficult at ALL considering how much information there is about all three of these men. Any questions?"

A boy wearing glasses raised a timid hand. Mr. Andrews gave him a sideways glance. " Yes, Alex?"

" Uh... just WHAT are we writing about exactly?"

The teacher sighed heavily, and in one huge slur, said, " You will be writing a 5-7 page paper on one person--Morgan, Carnegie or Rockefellar, not all three. Can I repeat NOT, Mr. Orwell?" he tapped the person in comment's desk as he walked by, stirring more awakeness into the boy's figure. "Let's say you picked Rockefellar. You simply explain whether you believe that this person was a ruthless tycoon, and use supporting evidence. Or if you believe that he WASN'T a robber baron, use evidence that supports that. Comprendo? We've only been talking about it THE ENTIRE HOUR."

" 'We?' I beg to differ," Taichi muttered.

" What was that, Yagami?"

" Nothing."

" ...All right. Moving on..."

Yes, Honors American Heritage had to be his most fake class on Taichi's schedule. The desks were fake, the book was fake, the lessons were fake... hell, Mr. Andrew's HAIR was probably fake--whatever amount of it he had left.

Taichi's ability to let his mind wander off at times like this was a useless talent, but one nonetheless. He considered Mr. Andrew's speeches a good time to reflect on the past... after all, it WAS a history class. Heh. Daisuke would just die of boredom in this class, especially after trying to go through Andrew's tests.

Daisuke was everything Taichi had expected him to be, and Ken was even more so. One was over-enthusiastic and the other was over-cynical. The personalities complemented each other, at least. Takeru seemed to be a mix of both of them, or perhaps his own character. Taichi couldn't figure him out as quickly as the other ones. At times he could be stern like no other, but then there were also the occasions when he was the most hilarious thing in the world. The guy must have had something like... split personality or something. Sheesh. He was quite intriguing.

Although not as much as Yamato...

Curiousity getting to the better of him, Taichi turned his head in the blonde's general direction, and was surprised to notice that Yamato was already thinking the same thing for him. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but then the torment pulled on Taichi, and he instead went to stare at the map of the world that was behind the enticing sight.

This world map was quite different... it covered the entire back wall of the classroom. There were apparent folds that sectioned off smaller squares on it... Taichi counted 35 squares, 5 x 7. Where the heck does somebody get a map that huge? He glanced at the spot where Japan was marked, then where America was. After adjusting to the American life somewhat, he had gotten used to the differences. He still had trouble dealing with some specifics... like his peers...

He smirked. His mind-wandering had suddenly reminded him of the time he played his cello for Yamato. He knew that Yamato enjoyed his performances, but it was just a habit for his mind to go all over the place.

After another five minutes of utter terror the students were free from Mr. Andrew's threshold. Taichi and Yamato made their way to French class on the other side of the school together. As usual Taichi teased the blonde about how bad his teacher was, while Yamato shot back with how bad the students in Taichi's class were. Even during the class Taichi's mind wandered toward him, the fact that Yamato was just in the room next to him giving him some relief. Madame Murphy was explaining the concept of writing passé composé to the rest of the class... again...

Taichi knew that he didn't need to pay attention to any of the discussion. Nonetheless, foreign language was the only thing he could truly be an overachiever in, so he took advantage of his teacher's extra lectures. They would help reinforce the important lessons that would be used in further years.

" Passé composé is not that difficult!" she said quickly, obviously in her ranting mood. When the other students were acting (or being) disassociated she would become a little frustrated. " There's just three things to remember."

She held up her thumb and the two fingers after it. " The subject," down went the thumb, " the present form of avoir or être depending on the verb," down went the index finger, " and the passé composé form of the verb," she held the remaining finger up, " That's all there is to it, you just have to..."

Taichi had to blink twice before he noticed it, and apparently none of the other students did. His seat towards the front of the classroom and in the center gave him a clear view of the finger in front of him. " Madame..."

----

October 11, 2002

" Taichi. Gomen na... ore kimochi warui."

One lonely Friday, one day without the blonde haired fellow near his side. Yes, the stroll to school seemed awfully quiet; yes, Mr. Andrew's class lacked something. But what hurt the most was lunch time, the single part of daily school life that points out --with a dirty, nasty finger-- your place in teen society. From the dark-clothed gotchic people gathered in the corners, to the athletic jockeys laughing loudly in the center, to the lowly clad females swooning discreetly at the jockeys. Oh yes, and there was also the occasional female who freed herself from the cage of the giggling swarm. There were several scattered around the lunch area, excited at the men teasing their barely protected bodies.

Lunch that day was French toast sticks with sausage. Taichi decided to try one of the sandwiches instead, and was amazed at their quality. They weren't too shabby for school food. However, he somehow failed to foretell a new arrival at his lunchtable until the intruder had made its way across from his front viewpoint. He was not in the mood for finding new social partners, and he was tempted to move, but some element of conscience arrived in his mind preventing from making any rude exits. Instead, he gave a meek greeting, then realized that it was... Lise. The one female who Taichi had contemplated being a misfit amongst a group that would make sure she was rejected unless she joined them. And also the only American he knew who could say his name properly.

' I can't believe I actually remember her name...' he thought without point.

" Hey, Taichi," she said casually, " I can't have anybody by themselves on a day like this. Football games build up a lot of pressure on the anti-spirits."

" Don't bother your time with me."

" Hmph, I bet you were a lot warmer to Yamato when you first met him, weren't you?"

Taichi blushed.

They remained silent for several moments, chewing indulgently on their lunches. The group that usually surrounded the two boys were now eyeing Lise. Most claimed that they were only surprised that Lise would ever have the nerve to do such a thing, although a majority hid their immediate jealousy.

" Come on, Taichi," his eyes furrowed once more at the exceptional pronounciation. " Yamato shouldn't be the only person here you can talk to. He might think that you're trying to put a burden on him."

Taichi blinked. He never thought of that...

Since he couldn't think of anything to argue back, he surrendered back to eating his lunch. Lise figured that he was trying to avoid conversation, and opened her mouth to get it going--- something like " How are your classes?" or "What do you think of this school so far?"

But it was Taichi who cut in. " What's Jesse's history?"

Lise took her turn at blinking. " Well, I've known her since Kindergarten, and-"

" I mean, what's her history HERE?" Taichi looked at her, a mild blaze in his eyes. " I had a bully after me and he seemed rather... envious."

The female was frozen for a moment. ' He plops all of these questions without emotion so easily. It completely degrades their importance...' "That's Brian Demple." She pointed him out, a few tables down. " He's Jesse's on-and-off goer. The problem is, every time Jesse is "off" him, she's always hanging off some other guy. If she gets the slightest sign of rejection, she'll turn to Brian for support. And then when her self-confidence rises again, she'll drop Brian and go after others... again. But now she's been rejected from just about every guy except Brian. She also finds you and Yamato to be very likable candidates."

Taichi continued to glare blankly.

" I think it was the bondage comment that set her off. I don't know what Yamato said to her, though. I wasn't there. Strange, Brian says some of the sweetest things to her and she just brushes them off."

The brunette, having lost interest in finishing his lunch, drank out of his sport water bottle to chug his food down.

" I can't help but feel sorry for her..."

Taichi's eyes widened. Practically spitting out his drink, he coughed and said, " I can."

" Huh?"

" She acts like a complete ditz! Seriously, if a girl keeps going out with someone who truly has feelings for her and then dumps them for the sole purpose of finding someone 'better...' and then USING the ex-boyfriend's interest in her to make herself feel better, not even CONSIDERING his feelings... it's so selfish!"

" Taichi, not so loud, she's nearby..."

He left Lise's comment unattended, his spirit becoming firey. He even raised his voice to outstand the lunch crowd. " A person like her doesn't deserve any pity, it won't help her at all! She needs some people to shape up her ass, and those responsible for that job know exactly who they are!"

Taichi stood up, quickly scanning the lunch area and identifying a large boy a few tables down, where Lise had indicated before. He glared at him. " Brian! You've got to be more than blind not to realize that Jesse's using you. Now, perhaps you think that she would ignore you forever if you didn't accept her, but that only makes things worse! You've got to believe in her own good and let her see things for herself! No form of support will always be there forever, and it's better to let go before she becomes too accustomed! If she realizes that she wished to be with only you, then so be it. If she realizes that she DOESN'T, so be it. Either way, it's better to find out now before YOU become too attached!"

" This is only high school. Here, love is so flimsy, yet so domineering. A single 'true love' is much too rare. And don't even THINK about commitment. It's only bullshit romantic propoganda you read and hear about in the media."

He took one large gulp, then went to face the girls (Jesse amidst them), ignoring the wide-eyed faces surrounding him. " Jesse! You need to wake up before you make a mistake you regret! Stop this foolery now unless you want to learn the hard way-- which is fine, go ahead if you want. I, just like all of your other 'friends' will be standing faithfully by as you tear your emotions apart. Face it, you can't get everyone no matter how highly you think of yourself. Most people don't think of you the same way you do. And to put it bluntly, you're overestimating yourself. I bet Bri-"

A high shrill-- close to a boiling teakettle-- interrupted him. It was a strange blur; the glimmer of tears catching everyone's attention as she stood up and shot out the doors, still wailing. Newsflash: Jesse has left the building.

For some reason, the first thought that occured in Taichi's mind as the school doors dimmed her voice, was 'Doppler effect.'

He stood still. The lunch room had grown silent long ago, and even the lunch monitors were hesitant to do anything. Then, Taichi felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned aroung, and met up with a very distressed Brian. The intense expression on his face couldn't be any more clear. ' Go talk to her.'

Taichi's eyes darted to the side, and he released a sigh, responding to yet another assigned chore.

Females could be so difficult, and in his case it more irritated him than impressed him. Mainly it was the way they handled competition and defeat... they're so stubborn. And on the excess side of that, too.

But what could he do? He DID kind of lash out too much. She probably deserved it, though...

Taichi paused at the school doors, not wishing to proceed. A flicker of an image popped in his head. Cool, stunning... blonde... would this have happened if he was there...?

He pushed the image away and the school doors with it, immediately hearing the girl's crying. He rolled his eyes again, more wearily this time, and waited for her to notice him. He wished she had NEVER noticed him, actually...

Through her weeping, she spotted Taichi out of the corner of her eye, then turned away. She sobbed even harder, hiding her face in her hands.

... Now what? Unlike with Yamato, he couldn't comfort this girl, emotionally nor physically...

Taichi shot down another blush. Damn, that guy was really getting to him today...

He looked back at the school doors, and saw Brian behind the window. The large boy mouthed the words, " Say you're Sorry..."

Taichi nearly gagged. It seemed that the only way to get out of this situation was to lie.

" Jesse," he uttered with mock willpower. " I'm sorry."

Her crying instantly stopped, although an ugly snort followed. " Really?"

The brunette almost couldn't help but laugh at the classic scene. She was even hiccuping at the right cues.

But it was his cue now. " Yeah, I shouldn't have said all that." 'Although there was a good reason I did in the first place, in which you're doing the exact opposite of right now.'

Obviously not hearing the words he had not said, Jess turned around, tears still puddled in her eyes. She suddenly gave a wild smile... " You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!" She leaped in Taichi's general direction, but his athletic reflexes easily allowed him to dodge. She held onto thin air (Brian hid his smirk) but refused to show her disappointment, convinced that Taichi was just playing around. Instead, she gave him a friendly elbow (which he also managed to dodge) and said, " Oh, you're a sly one, aren't you? Catch ya later!"

She skittered back inside after giving Taichi one of those feminine simles. Taichi just started at the wall after her, disgusted at what he had just done. He knew she had taken his apology in a way he had not intended, and there were going to be consequences...

If only Yamato were there...

----

The coach was watching. The ball had landed right where he could lead with it. Now was his chance...

The soccer ball landed neatly into his opponent's net, and it would have been impressive as well... if the goalie had not been slacking off on purpose to make it look easy. Taichi hmphed, then stood in the proximity of the net as the coach approached to comment on the play.

" Reiley, what happened there? You could have easily caught that."

Taichi held back his initial reaction, and kept it to himself. ' Yeah right...'

" Sorry coach, I was just a little preoccupied. Girls, you know..."

The coach laughed. " Better here than at the actual games, at least!" he said cheerfully, " Just get that problem fixed before the big one, okay?"

" Sure thing." With that, the coach ordered the team to proceed with the practice game. Reiley picked up the ball and handed it to the team coach, the whole time completely ignoring Taichi's presense. Taichi did nothing except head back to his offense position, which he disliked. He hated being unable to go anywhere through the field. It was better than being defense at least. Scoring was one of his specialties.

He was used to it now, this lack of recognition. He knew he was the newest team member. He knew that he was the cause of the other who had been cut from the team. And he knew that the only reason that person was on the team in the first place was because his fellow preppy friend the goalie. And the goalie was highly respected by the other members.

' Of COURSE that gives them a perfectly good reason to treat me like leftover shit,' he thought sarcastically.

He could wait, though. He was preserving himself on purpose, so that he could unleash himself during his first game. If he had a larger audience, then there would be no way the coach could avoid him...

In the meantime, suffering was the only choice he had.

----

Yamato's mother dismissed the brunette when he appeared at her door, telling him that Yamato should not see anybody while he was sick, and that Taichi should have called before stopping by. Sighing, Taichi headed home and promptly headed for the substitute plan.

" Moshi moshi?"

" Okaasan, I've got it." Taichi's felt his mind take a vacation as he heard that deep voice seep into him.

" Huh?"

" I said I've got it," he said calmly.

" Okay."

There was a click.

" ...Taichi?"

More fluttery feelings crept inside him, and Taichi couldn't control it. " How did you know it was me?"

" You sounded out of breath, I could hear your panting. And I saw you outside my bedroom window. Damn Okaasan, I'm not contagious or anything, I just had a bad fever."

" Oh..."

There was a significant amount of silence. For a minute, they simply listened to each other breathing, and Taichi eventually said, " My God... We have the contest tonight..."

On the other line, Yamato puffed out air. " I'm trying to convince Okaasan that I'm not sick so I can go."

" You mean you don't know if you'll be allowed to go? Yamato, we've been working on this for weeks..."

" I know. But you know how she is..."

Taichi flinched slightly. " Well, promise me you'll be there tonight."

" Promise you? I can't really-"

" Of course you can. And I'll promise you that I'll be there for the best day of your life."

Taichi blinked. That slipped out so easily...

" Right, Taichi..." Yamato replied. There was a hint of melancholy in his tone. " I'll try. Shouldn't you be going? The contest starts in a couple of hours."

Taichi checked the clock on the wall next to him. " True... Yamato... I..." he stopped, then picked himself back up. " I really hope you'll make it. Good luck to you."

" You too, Taichi."

Mrs. Yagami stepped into the room just as Taichi placed the receiver down. She looked rather excited about this contest... " Hurry up, Taichi! You don't want to be late! I already have the car keys."

Taichi looked at her with a half smile, tainted with the thought of Yamato. ' I wish he was the one to have my mom instead... he'd love her so much...'

He grabbed a large bag containing his concert outfit, and halted before deciding to go outside to the awaiting car. He was looking at the corner of the wall where a black case rested. " Okaasan. Load up the van instead," he said to his mother. She blinked curiously.

Taichi had an unusually serious gleam in his eyes. " I'm bringing my cello with me."

----

Tsuzuku...

----

Oooh, tension. . Reviews will help me GREATLY! I'm always wondering how people think this is coming along. ;

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

Splash

http/gottaito. 


	10. Part 9: Shining Collection

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 9: "Shining Collection"

By Splash

-------

Thanks peeps for all your feedback. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites are great, indeed.

Since this story is alternate universe, the Bishounen Boys will "fictionally own" their songs. In other words, the Bishounen Boys will claim credit for the songs in the fics, but it is only for the plot purpose only. I will give actual credits for the songs they sing in these notes, unless I made the song up myself (probably won't happen anytime soon) or something like that.

Shining Collection

Artist: Iceman

Album: Gate 2

Misc: Used in the 2nd OAV of Gravitation.

Urch, this is also when the somewhat derogatory comments about music bands start coming in ;;

Nani-What

----

October 11, 2002

Evening

The school auditorium was in a hustle, people moving in and out of it constantly. Everything was ready... or at least supposedly. The audience was cheerful, anticipating the judging of the performances. The performers were nervous and excited, the equipment was working well... but something was still amiss. SomeONE, in fact. And just that one someone could turn Taichi's night from a horrible one into a beautiful one.

Girls everywhere were admiring this and that, commenting on people's outfits, their makeup, or whatever they used as an excuse for fashion. The boys were all out of sight, but could be caught chatting with their friends that were participating in the contest. A large portion of the competition had immediately claimed they were alternative or hard rock bands or something else along those lines.

On the far, far corner of the long hallway of dressing rooms, one could find a group of four Japanese boys. The three younger ones were talking to each other, but the leftover was glancing at the contest's program in his hand.

" Eventually he got so pissed off he swung his guitar at me and ended up having to buy a new one. No sympathies for that guy, sorry," Ken rattled, laughing with the others. Takeru sensed a quietness behind him where Taichi was standing, and paused.

" Taichi?"

Daisuke and Ken continued on without the young blonde, who went over to the lone one. He was obviously fretting about Yamato's absence. Not only did Taichi suddenly lose the ability to be settled, but the aura he was giving off could be felt by everyone.

Still, there wasn't any room to be worrying like that in Takeru's mind. " We're up after the band that's next finishes. We can pull this off without Yamato, you know that..."

Taichi didn't turn away. He just didn't reply, neither verbally or physically. Takeru wondered if he had heard him at all.

" Taichi, you're our lead vocalist for our song. You wanted to do this specific song, and only you can sing it right. If you're going to pull out on this because Yamato isn't here, you're going to disappoint a LOT of people. Daisuke, Ken, me, the producer, Mrs. Hake, the audience, your mother, the audience... Yamato..."

Taichi wasn't phased at the slightest. But he replied this time.

" Delay our performance. There's a couple groups after us, right? We'll just go after them. By then Yamato should be here."

Takeru sighed, itching his hair in exasperation. " I'm quite sure Yamato would have been here by now if he was going to. It's not like him to be this late."

The brunette sat down on the fold-up chair nearby. He put a hand to his forehead and hugged himself with the other. " I thought an old friend like you would have more faith in Yamato."

" I'm just being practical. We CAN win this contest without him."

The stoic tone in Takeru's voice was really irritating Taichi, but he hid it. Instead, Taichi hugged himself tighter and buried his face in his arms. " I'm not going to sing next."

Takeru looked at him silently for a few seconds, trying to figure out what Taichi meant exactly by his statement. Unable to get Taichi to look up, he sighed again, then walked out of the dressing room, leaving the door open.

The young blonde ruffled his hair some more as he went down the hallway. He tended to do that more often when he wasn't wearing a hat... He saw the contest announcer ahead and prepared to speak to him. " Yamato needs more time... Taichi needs more time..."

----

Yamato glanced outside his room window. He hated being oppressed. The weather outside was beautiful, not too hot, not too cold. He wasn't feeling the slightest bit sick anymore, and his vocal chords were at their peak.

He stood around in his boxers, drying his hair with a blower.

And suddenly, an inspiration came to him. He could hear the phone ringing over the blowing sound hovering in his room. He turned the machine off and heard his mother downstairs pick up the phone. It was an old friend obviously, since she started ranting off in Japanese, happy as ever.

His eyes darted toward his outfit on his chair. The school wasn't that far away...

----

Taichi was still wearing his performance outfit, the strings on his trench dangling freely. It certainly didn't fit what he was about to do, however...

The producer was ballistic. " What makes you think a huge crowd of teens dying to see hot boys dancing around and singing would rather see you playing Bach on a cello?"

" Yamato's not here yet and we can't do this without him..." the brunette's grip on the firm throat of his instrument held strong, knuckles slowly paling, " And if anybody in this crowd is so disappreciative of listening to a two-and-a-half minute melody to the extent that they won't attend the rest of the concert, then we don't want them to attend ANY of our concerts."

Takeru had managed to hold back their performances two places, allowing a couple bands to relieve themselves earlier. Their band was now the final one to participate in the contest. The slightest hint of a delay had already deterred several members of the audience. The producer undoubtedly disliked seeing the publicity die and was now pressuring the band to perform without Yamato.

Mrs. Hake stood silent, no reply coming to her mind. The producer, on the other hand...

" You won't HAVE any concerts if you keep going on like that."

" Nani..."

The little slip of Japanese from Taichi went unnoticed as the buff producer raised a hand of reason. " Personally, I would LOVE to hear your cello, but a huge majority of the crowd out there wouldn't. They're TEENAGERS, for crying out loud. Heck, they wouldn't be interested in hearing a PROFESSIONAL play-"

" Which is the first advantage I've got for a chance to pull this off successfully."

The tall man nearby seemed to lose his balance for a quick moment before standing upright. " What are you saying, kid?"

Taichi snarled deeply at his reference. " I'm saying that we're reaching for a different kind of music band, to put it simply. Not with the hip-hop dancing boy bands, not with the screaming, head-banging punk rockers, not like anything you've seen before. The moment all of us take a single step of the same rhythm, millions of people out there will speculate that we're a wannabe Backstreet Boys or 'N Sync band. The moment that we scream out something completely inappropriate without total meaning, they will speculate that we're wannabe Limp Bizkit. Our chances of making it to the top are automatically charred if that happens."

" Yes, but at least you-"

" I KNOW we will be ridiculed for being radical, but we PREFER to be radical. We're not being violent, it won't kill anyone to do this, and we're not even introducing a new kind of music. It's just... a music genre that it so often ignored by the youths today. So just... let it go. Let's see how many of them out there really have a taste for this."

Nobody tried to stop him after that, but there was a hint of a smirk on the young boys' faces in the background as Taichi casually raised his cello, wandering off toward the crowd...

----

He ignored the gapes in the crowd as he stepped out, dressed to kill, yet numbed with the cello in his hand. They waited silently to see what the next band was planning, attention caught by the spontaneous appearance.

Taichi sat down and didn't bother to look at his audience.

Without hesitation, he struck his first note, elongated in exaggeration compared to the following. Beautiful tone and movement was essential... but yet, confusing string crossings were made miniscule. It was quite apparent that this movement of the suite emphasized melodic scale and arpeggio patterns, but it connected so well as Taichi continued to play it...

----

He tousled his hair, ignoring the fact that it was still moist from not drying it completely. He zoomed into the dressing room, and his nerves tensed when he noticed it was empty. The next choice was the stage, but most of his hopes had already died by then. He cursed himself for taking so much time to gain the courage to transport himself to the school. And if his mother hadn't become occupied on the phone, he wouldn't have gotten out of the house...

He began to get confused when he heard silence behind the large stage doors. The craziest thoughts that the contest had been cancelled or he was in the wrong building came to him, but he remembered the other bands in the premises.

His impulses refused to relax, so he silently pushed the doors open. As soon as he stepped inside, he could hear the ringing of a cello in the distance...

----

Taichi's fingers were moving swiftly across, up the bridge, back down, and then somewhere up in that stratosphere just to reach the highest note of the piece. Most of the viewers would have expected some kind of harsh sound, but instead it was pleasant, sweet like candy to their ears... The milky sensations crawling through them as the piece reached its climax was almost too much. And Taichi's playing also crawled, slowly... slowly up until he nearly slammed the peak note. But the ringing of it was perfect, and he lunged out from there, empathizing the high notes. Over and over again, until the music faded down in the slightest notice and melted, softening into the final chord.

Taichi wasn't worried about the audience's feedback. He didn't notice if there was applause, nor did he care. In fact, his performance seemed to be all in the past for him. He was too occupied staring at the person who had magically appeared next to him. His bow fell on the ground with a soft clatter, his cello was abandoned as he rose. He stood in awe, in delight, in confusion...

" Yamato..."

He rushed up to the new arrival and ignored everything else. Tightly, he threw his arms around the blonde, not ever wishing to let go. Yamato simply melted in them, immersing, loving...

The scenary changed around them, some on a whim but most with purpose. Takeru entered, followed by Daisuke and Ken. Taichi let them pass by to their places, still clutching Yamato possessively. Yamato was his for that moment, his one and only. He needed that sense of security, not the tension from the education system. He needed that sense of warmth, not the cold shoulders he received from the soccer team. Yamato needed it, too, for similar reasons...

All of a sudden, Taichi felt a tap on his shoulder.

" We need to start, Taichi. You're lead vocal, remember?"

He was reluctant to obey Takeru, but then realized he had a much larger audience around him. He released his hold, trying not to dwell on the look on Yamato's face. The microphone was right next to him, practically calling his name in yearning.

Daisuke threw his hand across the keyboard, launching the starting sequence of their song. Of Taichi's song...

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

Taichi rattled off the verses with such fluency, he didn't even need to focus on his singing. Rather, he was staring at Yamato, basking in his presence. Yamato sang the modulations with him, moving toward every pitch. They shared the same microphone, and they could nearly taste each other as they sang... And in the midst of the simple choruses, their eyes never parted.

Taichi's eyes twinkled with some kind of statement that only Yamato understood. ' It's your song, too.'

While the silent communication confused the crowd, they were too stunned at the song itself to contemplate anything else.

The group of five Japanese boys had won the contest without a hitch. Everyone in the audience was hollering in cheers louder than anything else heard that night. The girls in the audience were swooning, excited as they were, they didn't feel comfortable enough to throw themselves on stage. Or at least attempt to. Perhaps it was the sight of Taichi and Yamato refusing to separate from each other's arms...

----

Tsuzuku...

----

Time after this is going to speed up. Be prepared. Please review, since the subjective human part of me tends to herd toward the project that gets the most popularity. I hope that was understandable. XD

Splash

http/gottaito. 


	11. Part 10: Jupiter

*******  
The Bishounen Boys  
Part 10: "Jupiter"  
By Splash  
*******  
  
Oh, life can be a pain. But this should make it all up to you. This chapter's so long it could be a fic all in itself.   
  
Forgot to note a couple chapters before, Jess is also Jesse. She doesn't care which one. :D  
  
This chapter skips around in time. Just try to keep up. ^_^; And many little notes:  
-The "trip" is inspired by something my friend had to go through, and the accommodation is quite true... XD  
-Jupiter is from Holst's "Planets," and it's a tune you just have to hear. 'Nuff said.  
-Not 'nuff said, just kidding. Grab some midi at classicalmidiconnection.com/cmc/holst.html and the tune is in the middle. Too hard to miss.  
-Em... IB English is getting to me. My horrible attempt at a common literary device... it's kind of hidden, but it's there.  
-Learn to play Euchre page: bright.net/~double/euchre.htm and if you want more, go to ask.com and type in Euchre ^^  
-Don't mind the usage of Noah's character (same one as the real one at home), he's got a unique one :D  
  
Sashiburi-"Long time no see"  
doushite-Why  
  
There's some random French in here that is pretty irrelevant so I'm not going to bother translating. ^^  
  
*edit Sept. 30* Thanks Kleptomaniac Can Opener for pointing out something I had no idea about. Guess I was a little tired when I wrote that. XD  
  
****  
  
~June 5, 2003~  
  
Morning routine. Get up. Head to the bathroom. Plug in the sink. Let the lukewarm water fill up the sink. Dunk head straight into water.  
  
Taichi's bangs soaked up and the tips of untidy hair got swallowed in the liquid. It was the method Taichi used to wake up, even though he hadn't found it working ever since high school.  
  
When he lifted his head from the sink, he remembered something. Memory was a good sign of waking up to him. " Today's the last day of school."  
  
He and Yamato walked together to school again, the last time for several months. Summer break really wouldn't be that long now that he thought about it. Time flew so quickly, even more so when Yamato was around...  
  
****  
  
" ... And those who are going into French 3, which should be ALL of you, don't forget to freshen up your language during the summer. You don't want to lose it in the next three months..."  
  
The girl sitting behind Taichi was having great difficulty holding herself back, as she had since the first Bishounen Boys concert. As the winner of the local contest last October, the five boys were given the opportunity to present a concert fully featuring themselves. It was quite natural for the producers to take it...  
  
It had been a tiring year, if not a progressive one. The boys had quickly gained a fan base in their schools, and young people everywhere couldn't take their hands off them.  
  
Every instant was clear in Taichi's head, how many times he had pulled Yamato away from the people in his area. He had done it discreetly, however, pretending that he had something important to show Yamato, or some other excuse. Never had he given room for Yamato to think that his actions were out of jealousy-- no, he rather called it possession...  
  
Taichi's back twitched to the feeling of a teasing finger trailing down his back. That was the last straw. Without turning around, he whispered, " Cut it out, Jess."  
  
Jesse giggled, loud enough only for the teacher to give her a quick strange look. The teacher ignored it afterwards, and continued on. " Since this is our last full day of school..."  
  
Taichi regretted not finding the time to dish out his attitude towards Jesse. He had been occupied with the band and school for the majority of the year. But someday he'd have to do something...  
  
****  
  
They were well-received in their schools, although it didn't affect their social status in a positive way. Admirers and some looking for more than admiration would swarm them at first, and it took quite a while for the people to figure out that they didn't enjoy any of it. Still, there were still persistent ones, still after the Bishounen Boys...  
  
School was livable, and the transition to high school for Taichi and Yamato was all too natural. The band had little effect on their teacher relations since their teachers were all quite ignorant of them, but they didn't suffer from it.  
  
Although, Taichi had issues with some of the teachers. Even after doing a remarkable job scoring several of the winning points in every soccer game for the school (leading them into championship), he still received little recognition from his coach and peers. Yamato was the only one who ever congratulated him. The coach was just like the players... athletic and completely uneducated.  
  
The brunette had spent some time thinking about it in orchestra while the conductor was working on the second violins. It was rare in the school to find someone who was athletic and acedemically successful. But most of the time the athletic ones were just plain stupid in other classes, and the only thing keeping them alive was sports. It seemed outrageous, but Taichi found himself comparing it to prostitution, giving up one's physical self for the future of society's entertainment. Was that a bad thing? He browsed through every viewpoint he could think of... and simply found it ironic that prostitution was looked so down upon. It was a method to make a living. Sports was a method to make a living. What really was the line between sex and sports?  
  
' Meh,' he thought, ' This issue would go well in Yamato's essay.'  
  
And so, the end of the school year drew near, and Taichi was still sitting in French class with his classmates for a final discussion.  
  
" So we'll move onto some future plans," Mrs. Murphy continued. " How many people in this class are going to the Quebec trip this summer?"  
  
Taichi's hand raised lazily like several of the others. The entire French department in the high school was offered a summer trip every year, switching from either Quebec or France. This Quebec only had one week scheduled compared to two weeks in France. Taichi and Yamato had requested to share a room at the hotel they were staying in...  
  
****  
  
~June 14, 2003~  
  
The bus they rode was luxurious. There were two nicely decorated chairs on either side of the aisle for every row, but the first thing Taichi noticed were the cup holders... convenient little slots that were secure for drinks... And when he settled in the reclining seat, life was all the better. Already he knew it was going to be a relaxing trip, and not just the bus ride. Yamato plopped on the aisle seat next to him as he started to play with the window shades. Shades!  
  
" Yaaaamato..." he cooed, " they even have microphone plugs for the TV screens..."  
  
" You seem impressed," he replied, settling his backpack under his seat. " I'm really glad you're coming to this trip with me. You and your sports and all..."  
  
Taichi shook his head. " I quit it."  
  
" Huh?" Yamato stared at him like he had grown an extra head.  
  
" I'll be getting busier with the band and I'd rather keep with schoolwork and music..." Taichi said, his mood abruptly changing to a more serious tone.  
  
Yamato opened his mouth slowly, still in disbelief.  
  
" I thought soccer meant so much to you..."  
  
" It did when the people involved meant something to me," he reasoned, " I would never give up the band..."  
  
" The soccer coach... he was somewhat of a helpful guy, but he was also anal most of the time. And there's no one interesting to talk to during practices..."  
  
At that moment Yamato felt something, a pang of some sort. Was it empathy? Or...  
  
" PEOW! Taichi, Yamato, sashiburi! I had no idea you guys would be here! Are you rooming together?"  
  
Daisuke had popped up from behind, Ken peeking with him at his side.  
  
" I didn't even know you took French," Taichi remarked, barely irked from the surprise.  
  
" Well, now you do. Poor Takeru, he takes Spanish. Let's have a fun week in Quebec, ne?"  
  
And what perfect timing, one of the French teachers stepped up at the front of the bus and hushed everyone down. With some announcements of regulations and things of the sort, there was nothing else preventing the bus from leaving.  
  
Ten miles into the drive, Noah suggested that they put in a movie... " Canadian Bacon."  
  
" You'll like this movie," he told the crowd, " Betcha bottom dollah." Oh, he had such great spirit.  
  
The movie consumed a couple hours of entertainment, but it was still a long way to Quebec, and so Noah put in " The Hunt for Red October." Within the first half hour, 70% of the bus was asleep, the remaining men still chattering while the movie was playing. Daisuke leaned on Ken's lazy shoulder as the two dozed off in sleep land. Taichi glanced at them, quite envious of their innocent act... He was getting sleepy as well, and Yamato was no different. And Yamato's shoulder was quite tempting...  
  
He sat there nodding off, in conflict of leaning, or not leaning. " Goddammit, Taichi, stop tearing yourself up like this..." He wondered what was pulling him in.... why he always thought Yamato was remarkable in everything he did, why he always cared for the blonde...  
  
And why he wanted to be so close to him...  
  
Taichi let himself go, unable to keep his head up. He snuggled himself on Yamato's shoulder, sighed casually and dozed off. He didn't even stay awake to notice if Yamato responded...  
  
****  
  
About halfway through the trip, the bus stopped before crossing the Canadian border. They were given a half hour break to shop at the duty-free store or grab a snack. Taichi grabbed a giant bar of Nestle's original Swiss chocolate and wouldn't let it out of his sight until they got back on the bus. In no less than ten minutes after they continued their way, Taichi couldn't resist the urge anymore.  
  
" CHOCOOOOOLAAAATÉEEEEE!" he wailed, ignoring the impending stares around him.  
  
" You mean le chocolat, n'est-ce pas?" one of the French teachers, Madame Blake, commented, nonchalant about the outburst but still cheerful. She knew that it would do no good to admonish someone for being who he/she is. She was great like that.  
  
Some quiet scenes played on the TV screens from " Finding Forrester." Taichi and Yamato had seen the movie before in their English classes, so they knew which parts were boring... not that the movie itself was. Taichi nabbed a square off the 24 squares in the chocolate block, which must of been an inch-by-inch perfect cube. Err, perhaps not perfect, but it was still bulky. He savored the taste, stuffing the entire piece in his mouth and playing with it with his tongue. It energized him, gave him a jolt that chocolate usually did.  
  
He turned to Yamato and offered him a piece.  
  
" No thanks," he replied, " I've never really liked milk chocolate."  
  
' That's strange. Chocolate fudge Pocky doesn't taste much different...'  
  
Disdained, Taichi thought of a different method to get Yamato to have a piece. He looked around at his public scenery and thought better of it and restrained himself. Maybe when the mood was better...  
  
For the rest of the trip, Daisuke and Ken entranced them with bouts of the card game Euchre.  
  
" People outside Michigan just don't play it, but it's such a great game," Noah commented. He and a few others had set up their own group of four people to play the game. " It's our state specialty."  
  
The four Japanese boys had an incredible look of englightenment on their faces as they played the game. They weren't clear on the reason, but they were sure it would make itself known eventually.  
  
****  
  
The French students spent their dinner at a fancy restaurant (Yeah first impressions) before checking in the hotel. They had the entire second floor reserved, so they all trotted up the stairs (lazy ones took the elevator) with their luggage. Yamato and Taichi were more on the impatient side and didn't want to wait in the elevator line. Their room was 210, and Taichi was in charge of their entrance key.  
  
" We have the rest of the night to ourselves," Taichi said, immediately burning red once he noticed the underlining of what he said. " Shall we go in?"  
  
" ...Sure."  
  
There was no ceremony as they entered the room, but Yamato was able to collapse onto the sight of the first bed. Taichi opened up his suitcase and stuffed his clothes into a drawer sloppily. Satisfied, he turned around to check on where he was going to sleep...  
  
" Is there another bed?" he queried.  
  
Yamato had his head meshed in the pillow on the bed, which he lifted up. " Mmm..."  
  
" There's only one bed."  
  
Lazily, Yamato mumbled, " So?" as if he had not listened to the context of the statement.  
  
" It's a twin size. Did they not know there were going to be two people per room?"  
  
" The teacher told us there was only going to be one bed..."  
  
" Mrs. Murphy didn't tell our class about that..."  
  
Yamato rolled over to lie on his back. " Oh."  
  
' How the hell can he be so indifferent about this?' Taichi thought, ' Well, perhaps...'  
  
They prepared for the night, washing up in the small bathroom and changing wardrobe. By then, it was already past 10 pm, and they needed to get up early for the next day's activities.  
  
" That was a nice trip," Taichi said idly as he settled onto the bed.  
  
" It's only begun, Taichi," Yamato replied. He had claimed the right side of the bed with his stomach facing up. He preferred sleeping on his back, if not on his left side.  
  
And then there was Taichi who liked to sleep on his right side, especially since hearing from someone that sleeping on the left side was bad for the heart. Maybe he had it mixed up, but... Either way, there was nothing keeping Taichi from being able to watch Yamato sleep. But to do more... to show his affection... to have it returned... could he...?  
  
****  
  
~June 16, 2003~  
  
The day afterwards was all tourism and rule-stating. There wasn't much interest in the sight-seeing, but more in the food. They ate breakfast in the hotel, a nice and simple breakfast bar.  
  
" Tu voudrais un croissant? C'est bon, oui?"  
  
" Um, okay..." Yamato answered to the food in front of his face. Before he knew what he was doing, he opened his mouth like a young bird waiting to be fed. Taichi pushed a bite of the croissant inside his mouth, which Yamato chewed thoughtfully.  
  
" Good, ne?" the brunette asked.  
  
" Mmm..." Taichi fed Yamato another piece, but didn't release before Yamato clamped onto his fingers with his lips. Taichi tensed up, but Yamato didn't seem to notice... He stared ahead at his finger, waiting for Yamato to do something, but...  
  
" Oops," the blonde said finally, blurred through the contents in his mouth, " Sorry 'bout that."  
  
" No, it's fine," Taichi replied, taking his fingers out and putting them on his lap. " It's fine..." Yamato smiled shortly and continued chewing.  
  
Unseen to Yamato, he opened and closed a fist with those fingers, as if trying to feel those lips once more... 'I'm such a coward.'  
  
The French student group was then released in the afternoon in a downtown area of the city they were staying in. Their only restriction was everything that was more than obvious and that they had to return to a certain area in three hours. The females cheered for the free shopping time, while the rest decided to have a nice calm time. The middle school boys all went together to an arcade, including Daisuke and Ken. Taichi and Yamato watched them mingle in the crowd of spirited boys.  
  
" The difference of several years is amazing," Yamato commented, seeming somewhat solemn. Taichi gave him an empathic shoulder pat.  
  
" Do you want to get a cup of something at a café, Yama?" the brunette suggested. Yamato had barely nodded when Taichi started heading for the nearing place to settle.  
  
They both settled for hot chocolate even though it was summer, but they tasted amazing either way. They were so good, in fact, Taichi ordered a special cup of just its whipped cream. He thought he could finish it, but even his sweet tooth couldn't match the delicious demands of the indulging, so Yamato finished the remains.  
  
As things calmed after their whipped cream spree (which Taichi had trouble avoiding the suggestive properties of), Yamato started a rather intellectual conversation on the stereotypes of life, and Taichi found himself agreeing with every point.  
  
And what a good time to ask... " Did you ever finish that essay, Yamato?"  
  
The blonde had been yapping with his head on his hand supported by his elbow, staring out the café window, and he turned around to face Taichi. " It was nothing, Taichi."  
  
Taichi just looked at him, waiting for a continuation of the response.  
  
Yamato looked down, took his cup and swirled his empty drink. " It's already complete in my mind... maybe you'll know someday."  
  
****  
  
~June 17, 2003~  
  
' Aah, what a bother.' Something was blocking him from getting any sleep, and it was starting to disturb him. As if the original position was stiffening him, he turned to his other side, putting more friction between his lashes to see if it would help. When nothing followed, he substituted the pillow for his arm, the other resting below his chin.  
  
Nope, that position didn't do. Now he just had a headache and was even farther away from the sandman's world of fluffy clouds and jumping sheep. Stuck. That's where he was. He really needed more sleep, he had seemed pretty zombified earlier and didn't want to feel any worse. It sure wouldn't make Yamato any more cheer-  
  
He flickered his eyes open as a sudden impulse that even his own brain cells could not explain. And the white saucers he met up with only got bigger. The restless brunette wasn't stirred by the fact that his roommate was facing his direction since he knew quite well the blonde always slept on that side if he were ever to sleep on any side. But was that the first time he had-  
  
" Um..." Yamato idly lifted a hand to scratch his suddenly itchy ear.  
  
" Yamato... doushite..." despite his desire to finish his question, he was still dead tired, and a little dazed to top it off. Probably high on the stale hotel air conditioning they had left on too high. And just now Taichi realized how chilly it was in the room.  
  
The other revealed signs of calming, finally relieving his itchy ear. He let out a sigh that blew beautifully past Taichi's hand cuddling his chin. " Go back to sleep, baka," Yamato whispered in the silent immobility of the night.  
  
Taichi took some strained effort to focus on his friend's eyes, which actually looked just as weary as his.  
  
" Not with you staring at me like that."  
  
Yamato blinked. In one silky movement, Taichi reached out and grabbed Yamato's open shoulder and gravitated his hair-ridden head closer until the taste buds on his tongue could savor the scent of Yamato's shirt. He puffed out a breathe of relaxation, somehow feeling that he could sleep better in this position.  
  
Inside his mind, Yamato was screaming. But physically, he was afraid he might break something if he moved. The two didn't clash very well; one wanted a change and the other refused to commend it. But finally, the bringer of tiredness dawned on him, as he felt his eyelids grow heavy and somnolent. " I'll just figure out what just happened in the morninthhh...."  
  
****  
  
~June 18, 2003~  
  
Taichi was surprised to see Yamato's head nudged against his chest when he awoke. They were in no rush to wake up early that day, so they had several more hours to sleep in... or whatever.  
  
The sun glowed through the small window in the room, creating some sort of heavenly atmosphere vibrating through the clean white sheets. Yamato stirred in his sleep, mumbling something incomprehensible. Perhaps it was just the environment, but he looked particularly angelic...  
  
Most people knew Yamato for being an average good-looking guy, who could sing and play piano and violin. He would never let other people find out about his life at home, though...  
  
It inspired him, the sight of the blonde sleeping and his musings. He hummed the first tune that came to his mind, knowing it might do something... It was in the key of B-flat...  
  
" Jupiter..."  
  
Taichi continued to hum, but he lowered his view to catch Yamato's awakening face, a strange look on his face. And through all that Yamato felt secure... his parents seemed to become nonexistant, his disgust of school, the horrors of the world outside the small hotel room... All that seemed to be was Taichi and him. He could live up to the world with Taichi, find the joys of being...  
  
" So nice..." he uttered when Taichi finished. He was still sleepy, so he slunk back into a more relaxing position, wrapping his arms along Taichi's back.  
  
Taichi's hearbeat paced rapidly, not holding back his reaction of Yamato's embrace. And then... it dawned on him. Why was he paining himself over something that was so obvious? Why hadn't he seen it before? Perhaps he was just avoiding it, denying it... He was afraid of that scrap of uncertainty, the slightest possibility that everything was just a figment of his imagination.  
  
It seemed that Yamato could no longer fall back asleep like him. And Taichi knew... it was the for the same reason that troubled his own mind.  
  
He cast one final reassuring gaze on Yamato, then drew his face closer and kissed him full on the lips.  
  
' There's no denying this moment...'  
  
And Yamato was soon returning the effort, tongues entwining in a clash of sensation. They clung to each other tightly, never wishing to let go. Yamato emitted a small moan, motivating Taichi to turn over so that he was on top of the blonde. They kissed again and again, loving it each time.  
  
Taichi's skin jumped as he felt a hand pull up the back of his shirt frantically. He could sense Yamato's haste, as beautiful as it was, and complied to the unspoken request. He peeled the shirt off over his head, littering it on the side. He received another bout of surprise when he felt Yamato nipping his neck enthusiastically. That alone almost brought Taichi over the edge.  
  
The sheets rustled around them, responding to every movement they made. When Yamato released Taichi's neck, they were immediately compelled to kiss again, as if making up for lost time. And oh, they had much time to make up for...  
  
Yamato felt himself sink lower into the bed, partially from Taichi's weight. Taichi padded small, light kisses trailing down Yamato's chest, then growled quietly at the obstacle. Taichi nearly ripped part of the clothing as it was taken off. With the shirt gone, he continued kissing Yamato... on his shoulder bones, stomach, nipples...  
  
Yamato was anticipating what was being implied through Taichi's actions as he made his way down. But right before the brunette reached the hem of his boxers, he stopped. Taichi simply didn't go on, but looked down at the material for a moment. And then... he turned to face Yamato directly, giving him a clear expression... " We don't have to rush."  
  
And Taichi smiled, gave him a look of pure contentment.  
  
Tears brimmed on the edge of Yamato's eyes, and he released a cry of joy as he went forward to lock Taichi in an embrace.  
  
They stayed like that for several minutes, basking in each other's warmth. The alarm on the bed desk hit 9:00 am, the time they had planned to actually wake up. Perhaps one can only sleep in for so long after 7:30. they had begun to shuffle off the bed when they hear incessant banging on their door. It was Daisuke's style, he rattled off a certain rhythm from his favorite song of theirs, GateI.  
  
Taichi sloppily slipped his shirt back on and opened the door. " Ohayo, Taichi! Pleasant one today, no?"  
  
" We're in Quebec. Tu doit parler français, mais oui?"  
  
Daisuke, a boy of curiosity, glanced inside to see a rather winded, topless Yamato slunking at the edge of the bed. He quirked an eyebrow, but let go of any inquiring thoughts.  
  
" Ken's on his way, he had to call his mom," said Daisuke, " Do you want to come to breakfast with us?"  
  
" Yeah, Daisuke. Just give us a moment. We'll meet up with you at the breakfast bar."  
  
" Hai!" the younger one cheered, then skittered back to his room.  
  
Taichi closed the door behind him, instantly churning a new mood in the air... a silent one.  
  
Yamato seemed to blank out into space, but he turned to speak to Taichi. " I never realized it until now. Why I still felt lost even after the band's success..."  
  
They cast small smiles at each other before Yamato went to dress up. Taichi ventured to the bathroom for his morning routine. And when he plugged in the sink to fill it up with lukewarm water, he kept his head under for a MUCH longer time. So long, he thought he was going to drown until his mind cried for oxygen. He came up gasping, his bangs dripping and cheeks flaring. And he felt so relieved all of a sudden...  
  
****  
  
Tsuzuku...  
  
***  
  
Nyah, that stanked monkeys. Should I just stop? XD  
  
Oh well. Cheer up a gal who has a horrible cold at the moment with a review? ^^  
  
Splash  
gottaito.cjb.net 


	12. Part 11: Blind Game Again

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 11: "Blind Game Again"

By Splash

-------

Holy snit, 6 months of this in the dust and I finally got this time on Easter weekend to finish up the scraps I've been collecting. I deeply apologize! QQ

Hmm, another Gravitation song. ; Time skippage once more, because the freshmen year was getting tiring.

Due to FF.N's banning of NC-17, the lemon version will be on my website later. ; That's right... lemon... I only did it to explore a bit, then realized it's not everything that I thought it would crack up to be. But it's a lemon. 3

----

June 18, 2003

There seemed to be an aura of a new truck of feelings moving in as they settled for breakfast. Daisuke and Ken couldn't help but notice something was different, walking down the hotel hallway with the two older boys of their band. Was it because of the distance between the two? ... or lack of... Maybe it was just his imagination, but Daisuke noticed that they were walking with their arms nearly touching, their hands tense. Sure, Daisuke wasn't all that great at math or science, but he could understand the most unnoticeable things...

At the breakfast bar, Daisuke went for the cereal while the other three boys got themselves croissants. Conveniently, there was a round table for four people available. They settled in, routinely talking about the future of their band (even though they were on vacation) while idly tending to their food.

" I swear, if the audience requests The Rage Beat again, I'm going to burst..." Daisuke spouted, ignoring the occasional looks from the people listening to their conversation. " It was fun to sing at first, but they've sung it all out of me. I'm going to sing Gate I more often just to spite them."

And once again, Daisuke took note... every time Taichi motioned with his hands, reached out to take a drink out of his orange juice... Taichi's hands seemed to hesitate whenever they were in Yamato's proximity... Why he didn't understand the hesitation was because Daisuke could give a slap on Takeru or Ken's back with full ease. How come Taichi and Yamato always had trouble with such common gestures?

----

Deciding that they wanted to play some other card games Noah had taught them, Daisuke and Ken went back to their own room. They seemed to have some other unsaid reason, but they made no effort to voice it. The older two were too preoccupied to think more upon it, preoccupied with other thoughts...

The morning had barely begun for their entire day off. Normally, Taichi and Yamato would talk about random things or play music, but since neither had their instrument with them...

They sat in silence on the bed for about half an hour before Yamato spoke up...

" Taichi... truth or dare?"

" Huh?"

They both had their arms behind their head, staring at the ceiling in a comical matter. The normally blissful white atmosphere of the hotel room was shadowed in the dreary rain outside. It felt no more like a cheerful morning, but a shady late afternoon.

" It's a game I picked up from the Americans... kind of one of those silly 'try to be adult' games, but... meh. Truth or dare. Pick one."

Unsure, but curious, Taichi answered. " Truth."

Without contemplating, Yamato asked. " Have you ever been caught..."

" No."

Yamato laughed despite Taichi's firm reply. " Yeah, that's what kind of game it is. All right, now it's your turn."

" Ok... truth or dare?"

" ...Truth." Yamato smiled, sensing Taichi's amusement. He heard shuffling on Taichi's side, so he turned his head to find the brunette staring out of the window. The rain had quickly grown heavy, waterfalls dripping down the window. Some rumbling could be heard in the distance.

" Are you afraid of thunderstorms?"

Yamato laughed again. " What kind of question is that? Of course I'm not. Why, are you?"

Taichi just turned back around and stuck out his tongue. " It's your turn."

" Truth or dare?"

" Dare." He stuck out his tongue again, mocking the child in him.

A glint of mystery ran through Yamato's eyes as he thought. Sitting up, he reached toward the blanket at this feet and pulled out his Charizard Pokemon plushie. " I dare you to make out with Charizard for one minute."

Taichi had to hold back his laughter. " You're weird, Yamato."

" I know I am. Now do it. Be serious with it."

Playfully he stuffed the stuffed animal in Taichi's face, forcing him to take it when he blocked.

" One minute, eh..." he said, looking at the aged creature. " This is its mouth, right?"

" Yes..."

Taichi sighed, brushing away some hair that had strayed onto his face, then proceeded to place his lips on the 'mouth' of the fuzzy orange dragon.

" Don't get it...wet..." Yamato added last second. But his jaw dropped mid-sentence as the brunette commenced his dare, grabbing the stuffed animal possessively and... and...

Taichi was pretty good at getting serious. Yamato stayed gaping. " Oh... God..." he uttered unconsciously, entrapped in Taichi's actions. He couldn't take his off Taichi, who was busy with his eyes closed... He suddenly saw himself in place of the Charizard plushie, which only furthered his rampant imagination.

A minute was over all too soon, and with a broad movement Taichi released the stuffed animal from his confinement. " Douda?"

" Good, good, that was..." the blonde seemed to have a troublesome time trying to breathe.

" Truth or Dare?"

Yamato inwardly groaned. ' He's doing this on purpose.'

" Truth."

" How often do you.." Taichi grinned evily.

Yamato cringed.

" ...travel?"

There was an awkward silence, only the pitter-patter of the rain continuing to fall outside.

" Damn you, Taichi. I travel plenty."

" Oh, really..."

The brunette suddenly met with a pillow in his face. He chuckled as he peeled it off, but on the inside his heart was singing...

" Truth or dare?"

Taichi put a finger to his chin idly. " Truth."

" Are YOU afraid of thunderstorms?"

" No."

" Then why did you ask me?"

" One question, Yama... One question. Rules of the game."

" Oh, screw the game..."

Suddenly, the blonde rolled over to Taichi's side, staring down at him. They stared each other down intensely, hesitating for that trace of doubt. When they realized there was none...

" Mmph!"

Taichi's attention started like a child spotting a large Christmas present, shocked at Yamato's enthusiasm. The blonde was quite aggressive, nipping at the brunette's neck and running his hands through his hair. It felt so nice...

" Yama..." he gasped, reaching up to put his arms around the blonde's neck, brushing against his violin hickey. Their lips met, and suddenly shirts were being urged away...

Thunder continued to rumble aimlessly outside, muffled by the safe walls of the clean hotel as the two boys continued. Taichi's kisses began to trail down, but Yamato noticed and forced him to stay mouth to mouth. Practically trapping Taichi with the sheer will of his tongue, Yamato glared into the other's eyes. Knowing what the blonde wanted, he graciously gave in and let him move on.

Yamato smiled brilliantly at the brunette's submission, nuzzling Taichi's neck affectionately. It was a great feeling of warmth that kept them tingling for more, crying of desire. In their minds they were almost star-crossed lovers, yet they wanted to live every moment together...

Breathe the same scent, share each other's joy...

----

August 18, 2003

Yamato finished tuning his instrument, admiring the ring that echoed through the stage from the ringing of perfect pitch. He half-grinned, then glanced around the auditorium to see if anyone else was around. Seeing that he was alone, he raised his bow and started playing a lively song from an Anime he had seen (Jubei-chan). In the middle of his final glissando note he was interupted by a nipping on his ear, which almost caused him to lose his bowgrip.

" Taichi! I don't like it when you do that when I'm playing..."

The blonde turned around with his chastising expression, only to be met with something too cute for words... He couldn't help but kiss it, wrapping his arms around Taichi. The brunette grinned, more brightly than usual. The blonde wondered for a moment, then hastily went back to his instrument and started playing random scales.

Taichi blinked, noticing Yamato had seen something when he had turned away. He turned himself and saw Takeru...

If the younger blonde was in the auditorium long enough, he didn't show it. " Time to start practicing," Takeru said, turning on his keyboard.

Taichi sighed at his nonchalence. Takeru always had some ability to stick to business without letting his personal or emotional feelings deter him. Or at least, he hasn't let those feelings get to him YET... Taichi wondered if one day he would just explode, break out his frustrations of the world's incompetance.

Taichi suddenly realized he was talking about himself and Yamato, too. The only difference was that Taichi knew he already had a release of such emotions in the cafeteria incident. Perhaps Yamato had done the same around those times when Taichi was around. Or was his level of release actually something more profound...

Daisuke soon walked onto the stage, laughing his head off while Ken lightly chuckled. Almost always they came onto the practice stage in this manner, and almost always the others would look onto them in a habitual stance. Taichi smashed his lips together in a strange smile, Yamato quirked his eyebrow for a split second before going back to his instrument, and Takeru... blinked and rolled his eyes.

Maybe it was simply part of his habit to find something to occupy himself, but Takeru hastily warmed his hands on the keyboard. He also broke out into warming up his voice without hesitation, filling the auditorium with his singing.

It was certainly not the first time he had done this the moment the rest of his band members had entered the auditorium. Taichi stopped looking at the younger ones and turned towards Yamato, who was focused on his instrument. He sighed. ' These guys have the right to know...'

----

February 12, 2004

Taichi had been told that Sophomore year was something to be treasured from someone in orchestra. It was a junior who had told him this... so perhaps that person was right... Throughout the year, he found there were many, MANY ups and downs, both in academics and social interactions.

Since he heard it was highly recommended somewhere, he took Government and Economics, which were both rather easy classes. His econ class was full of junior/senior slackers, and his government class was full of junior/senior crazies. All in all, they were nice...

However, there was something quite unusual... it wasn't the feeling of despising the new freshmen, or the constant reminder that collage résumés needed to be prepared... or the continuing dismay of the quality of the English teachers. No, those problems existed, but only occupied a portion of Taichi's worries. What took the majority of his thoughts was in his orchestra, his lunch period, and now his French class...

" La class est tranquil! C'est merveilleux!" said Madame Blake, fascinated at her quiet class working on their worksheets. It wouldn't last long, though.

The students around Taichi and Yamato were friendly chaps. " You have some REALLY good songs," the girl sitting behind Taichi commented. " No offense, but I think Ken is the cutest."

" None taken," Taichi said casually, eyeing Yamato, " I'm not interested in a fanbase."

" Don't want one?" she said.

" Can't want one. Don't want," Taichi confirmed shortly, still eyeing Yamato. Yamato squirmed under the gaze, then quirked his eyebrow as if he had no idea what the brunette was hinting.

At that moment the teacher calmed the class to start correcting the worksheets. All of the students turned around in their desks, but Taichi set off to his usual multi-tasking. While paying attention to the corrections, he pondered what just happened. Despite their involvement, Yamato never appreciated it outside their haven. But why... why was he afraid? Taichi wasn't too surprised that Yamato would be at first. He thought he would gain the courage eventually, though. It truly troubled him, knowing how close he was to Yamato but unable to express such a joy with the existence of others around. It certainly didn't make him feel more confident about himself...

----

Taichi couldn't stand this. He found that learning from the words of the teacher and examples were where his strong skills appeared. He could remember lectures given weeks ago from hte teacher who could give an important lesson well. He preferred the boring, straight out splurges of information over the "creative participation," that declared people's intellectual and social quotas in its subliminal way.

Such as the nightmare he was living now... " Liz, what is the domain of this function?"

Taichi wasn't sure if the other students noticed this specifically. The teacher was always vague with the actual lesson and was more concerned with seeing if individual students could teach the others. It made Taichi want to hurl. ' I'm here to LEARN from you, teach, not to let people embarrass themselves by setting poor examples.'

" Now with the domain that Lizz gave us, and the range that Nick gave us, no wait-- Joe gave us the range, right?"

Taichi just rolled his eyes while the class remained class. " Yes, it was Joe. Yeah, so Joe gave us the range... now Melissa, what would be the equation for the inverse of this function?"

A sigh escaped the brunette's lips. Luckily the lesson ended several minutes after, but Taichi had to sigh again as the class for some reason broke into loud chatter. Even after the teacher had assigned their homework, he made no attempt to make them work on it. Taichi wouldn't have minded if he knew the teacher didn't care, but the aura he could sense from the teacher... it just made him feel sick. In fact, Taichi didn't work on the homework after the lesson as he did in the beginning of the year. Recently he was too fed up with the math teacher to have the slightest motivation to work on the homework. He would just copy the overhead of answers the teacher posted the next day along with all of the others who did the same.

He tried to blow it off and forget it all; life was just stupid sometimes and he had little power to change it. Concentrate on what makes you happy while you still can, little children. The future is so shrouded with obstacles unforseen.

He listened quietly to a conversation behind him concerning music... the talkative/perverted boy of the class was telling Kurt Cobain's bio to his death, then skipped over to Nirvana, Saturday Night Live, and other events. Taichi didn't catch any details except... " He was getting sick of the music life, tired of his fans." The boy rattled off a quote, providing evidence that the musician was fed up with rock and roll.

' Speech class...' Taichi finally discovered, peeking behind him. The boy reached the suicide informative.

" ... And overdosed. He brought towels along with him. Shit..." the boy apparently had brain fart in his memory. The bell rang at long last, allowing Taichi to storm off without a glance at the students or the teacher.

----

Taichi sat down with his sandwich gone, which he had finished rather quickly. " Yama..."

The blonde averted his eyes to his sides before looking at Taichi. " Now's not a good time for that mood..."

Taichi couldn't stop himself, his conscious wouldn't allow him to. He gave Yamato a fierce look, daring him to defy. " Just a little, nothing big..."

" You've had a rough day, haven't you?" Yamato said, immediate understanding filling his expression. He remained emotionally restrained, however.

Taichi didn't say anything, but leaned over and stuffed his face in Yamato's neck. The blonde gave an involuntary groan at the contact, leaning into Taichi. He loved it when Taichi surprised him with such affection, but...

" T-Taichi... lunchroom... we're in the lunchroom..." the blonde dreamily ventured his eyes to make sure no had seen/heard them. He considered himself extremely lucky everyone was still busy eating.

" We'll go to the orchestra room, then..."

Yamato lifted himself from the seat, pitched his lunch tray, then walked quickly to the exit.

The walk to the other side of the school seemed to last forever. Taichi kept his hungry stare on Yamato, and could do nothing to hold himself back. They had hardly reached the double doors when arms wrapped around Yamato's waist. Taichi clumsily sought Yamato's lips, throbbing it with his own. Even though the blonde could feel the tension, he complied to his lover's desires. Not like there was a way out, they had already passed the point of no return.

Eventually they situated themselves in the unlighted first practice room to avoid any of the hall roamers, and they continued their dance. Taichi moved his hands through Yamato's hair, dazzling at its beauty. They kissed until they both ran out of breath, and Taichi leaned against Yamato on the wall of the small room. He knew he was tired, stressed, and depressed among many other troubles, but he also knew Yamato was his only true happiness.

Taichi dug his face into the blonde's neck again, moving slowly across it. " Yama..."

In response, Yamato's eyes fluttered, sucking up the feeling of warmth surrounding him. " Hmm?" he uttered as he moved his head to allow Taichi further access.

He was already on a streak of uncontrol, but this was the only thing that struck him and completely unlike him. Taichi slid his hands from Yamato's waist to his back. They kissed again, fighting over dominancy as they clung to each other.

Taichi couldn't think of a better way to say it, his mind tainted with heat. " How long are we going to hide? I can't stand this any longer..."

They stood nose-to-nose in the darkness, with barely enough light to catch each other's eyes sparkling in reflection.

Maybe the blonde thought Taichi hadn't seen it, but he looked down and paused. Instead of answering, Yamato captured Taichi's lips once more, locking them in. And now Taichi was certain...

He needed Yamato, but he didn't want to be a burden to him. He thought he was doing a fine job of maintaining a balance of independance and dependance, but perhaps it wasn't enough for Yamato... Well, it was about time that it WAS enough.

" Yamato," he broke off, backing off from the wall. " This has been going on too long, and it's only getting worse as we hold it off."

Yamato blinked curiously. " What are you talking about?"

As much as he wanted to draw it out, he only had a short time before they had to go to their next class. " We need to stop hiding around the school. We rarely get any time to ourselves outside the band and school, but you always spend that time pretending like we're just acquaintances that sit together at lunch."

Yamato kept a straight face, refusing silently a reponse for Taichi to analyze.

" Do you have any idea of what I'm feeling right now...?" Taichi asked.

" Passionate."

That set Taichi off. With his fist, he lifted the blonde off the ground by the collar, ready to give him a good punch or two. But then, he felt a slight déjà vu, remembering when Taichi had been in the same position as Yamato. It was Yamato who had saved him on the first day at this school...

Yamato surprisingly lost his nonchalance. He looked at Taichi in worry, hoping they wouldn't have to resort to violence. His eyebrows curled slightly, the most of emotions Yamato could express in such circumstances.

Taichi stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, torn between his desires and what those around him preferred. He could feel his grip on Yamato's collar shivering, shaking his composure. He released Yamato, then leaned into the blonde's chest, still shaking. Yamato blinked, unsure of what just happened. He held Taichi in his arms, confused for a moment. Then he noticed as the shaking grew heavier-- Taichi was crying. Taichi had never cried in front of him before...

There had been many times when Taichi was able to comfort him, but could he return the gesture? Yamato's expression grew worrisome as Taichi continued to bury his face against Yamato, letting out his continued depression in tears. And suddenly, Yamato felt guilt welling inside him. ' I'M the reason for this outburst...' he realized.

" Taichi, I'm sorry," he began, rubbing Taichi's back. " I've been quite an ass lately, haven't I."

Taichi was unable to reply, making Yamato unsure of whether he had heard him or not. " I have to admit... I'm afraid of what other people will think. But..."

" It'll be an adventure, ne..." Taichi said between his sobs.

The blonde stopped his thoughts for a split moment, surprised to receive an answer. He quickly recovered, nodded and rubbed Taichi's back, figuring it was the best he could do. " Who do we break it to?"

Taichi sniffed as he raised his head off Yamato. For a fleeting moment he had the entertaining thought of what the audiences' reaction would be if they kissed on stage. But other than that, he had absolutely no idea...

" I don't suppose you expected some sort of public display at a concert," Yamato said giving him a suspicious look.

Taichi was glad the darkness hid his flustering. He didn't want to admit he had been thinking of the same thing. " Do you have any bright ideas, Yamato?"

Yamato shrugged. " To be honest, that's the only one."

Taichi frowned, although he wasn't disatisfied. " I guess we have to do something along those lines."

" Are you SURE about this?"

Taichi sighed. " I don't want to go through this again..."

" All right, all right... I think lunchtime is almost over, so it's time to head to 6th hour. Ikou-"

Taichi gave Yamato a surprise hug, smiling with sudden energy. " Thanks, Yamato."

Yamato returned the smile, the first familiar sign of contentment he had given in a long time. Somehow, it felt as if they had already gone through the ordeal, and they would be content forever...

----

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

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DO REVIEW! o.o

Splash

http/gottaito. 


	13. Part 12: Savile Row 3

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The Bishounen Boys

Part 12: "Savile Row #3"

By Splash

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well, if anyone was still keeping up with the progress of this fic (-pokes- Anyone? QQ), I said that this was going to be the last part, but it ended up too long... again. So the last part should come up in less time. XD

First off, I have to apologize from deep within my heart. My single, short excuse: Life. The extended version of it concerns personal relationship, college applications, two senior music recitals I have to prepare for (violin/piano), and my focus on art... need support, onegaishimasu! X3

Next, review response!

Lady Zephyros: I'm glad you watched Gravi! Shounen-ai is always great stuff. 3

SrPositivo: I know I was horridly slow with this fic, but it's hard to put my feelings into words in these kind of situations. You are absolutely right.

nEo-cHaN: I'm so glad you stuck around for my slowness. I love your fics!

Sillie: Thanks for the sweet reviews, lol!

Blackout12: Wow, I'm overwhelmed with those ratings. o.o; Sorry if I blanked out too often on AIM, I juggle a lot of windows. XD

Aero-Grrl: Aerooooo! We're so statistically similar, it's scary. Gogogo Taito!

Ice'is Blue: Mwehehe, I live to see Taichi and Yamato getting close.

AngellicVixen: Sorry the site was inaccessible, with the Dreamwater situation, I hope more people use the gottaito. address instead. Thanks for the Tai comments! Although, I feel guilty at times for changing his personality too much. XD

Lady Moon: Fufufu, lots of fan action in this one, hope it amuses you. 3

jkb: -blushes- awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww -- I'm so glad you had fun with this!

amanda: When I started this fic, I intended for Daisuke, Ken and Takeru to have a much larger role, but I couldn't really fit 'em in. o.o;

Nyx N. Malfoy, PyroNeko Megami: I can try a little here. XD

CCPheonix: Can I have your Patamon? j/k. But here it is

Zoneofdecay: Wow, I did not know that about the Columbine high school accident. Fortunately, the Bishounen Boys don't have such a twisted mind as those who were involved in the violence. One must know that not all people who are into the same interests will handle sitations similarly. This can easily be compared to nationalism today, where many people in the United States nationalists support war against Iraq, while others believe that pacifism is the true path to nationalism. Too often, humans forget that we cannot assume that a certain group represents the entirety that the group belongs to. This form of prejudice is probably one that will never cease to exist in our world. That is when an open-mind is useful. 3

Stigmatized: Thank you so much for enjoying this fic, I hope you like this part, too.

Tainted Halo: -Tries to work- Ahhh, I have been procrastinating and busy. Xx; But I managed to pull through enough for this...! -breathes heavily- At long last..

sweetkaiser: Hope you got to read the lemon... even though I freak out every time someone tells me they're going to. I'm very self-conscious about those kind of things. XD Glad you like Gravi, too!

Sora Ishida: I'm so glad you came over to the #DigiLegacy channel on mIRC, it's so nice to have another Taito fan in the premisis! And Wonderswan Digimon games own, too. XD My feelings about Sora are so mixed at times, depending on my mood... weeeee!

FireDemon: You get to find out right here! Hope it didn't turn out TOO messy. o.o

Silverblade: It's really cool that you took the time to read my fic, even though you're not interested in yaoi. Of all the Digimon fics I've written, I actually think this one has the least yaoi content, despite what most people tell me. Sure, it has a full-blown lemon, but there would still be quite a lot of content without the yaoi. I know the cello-playing Taichi is completely out-of-character, but he was out-of-character from the start of the story, heheh. XD

Wee, that's all of 'em. D

If you don't understand any of the technical stuff that goes on in this, then... go look it up if you're really curious. It's always nice to be self-motivated rather than have people give life to you. Also, I apologize for any over focus on the original characters in here. I really could make a whole side story on them, but it would end up sounding like a warped version of some random high school gal's diary or something... who wants to read that? XD

I only noted a couple Japanese words that I felt should be translated. xD

Onee-san-sister

Oi, omae-tachi-Hey, you guys!

Now for the fluffy duff!

----

February 20, 2004

Vendredi volé! A special Friday in French class where all the students and the teacher partied with lovely food... Most of the people brought contributions of foods or party supplies and left them in something like a fireworks display on a table in the classroom.

A pair of cheerful girls mocked a toast of their caffeine to tribute their friendship. Several of the boys raided the candy supplies in the disarray of food assortments. Taichi and Yamato happily ganked their supply of French bread, Tortilla chips and Nutella, then settled to one side of the classroom where they could fiddle with the white-board. They amused themselves with a couple games of hangman and picture drawing.

Taichi suddenly made a grab for his Nutella, slinging a finger cleanly into the hazelnut spread. " Want some, Yama? I swear I'm going to make you appreciate other chocolates by force. Even though nothing's better than milk chocolate..."

" Oh, no..." the blonde replied hastily. " Really, I just like fudge Pocky-"

Taichi took hold of Yamato's shoulder and prodded a Nutella-covered finger into the other's mouth. Yamato almost bit down on the finger, but he was overwhelmed by the scent of the Nutella first.

" Mmph..." Yamato tried to back away, but only succeeded in making Taichi come closer.

The girls around them snickered lightly at their antics as their conversation ensued. And unknown to them, Yamato's tongue was playfully making its way around Taichi's finger... Without warning, Taichi groaned quietly, then hastily took his finger out. " One step at a time, Yama."

Yamato smirked. " What would you think the first step would be, then?"

Smiling, the brunette brought an arm around the other and connected their foreheads. " Lead them in... we don't have to completely shock them. Catch my drift?"

At this point, they had slipped back into their native Japanese language, despite the French environment. Yamato grinned back, cherishing their closeness. " That sounds good to me..."

The girls gave them amused looks, some utterly confused, while others surprised. It was the first time Taichi and Yamato had ever made more direct contact than assumed male friends would make in the United States...

" Ii desu na..." Taichi mumbled, immersed in their simple position. With their busy lives, they rarely had moments like these. It was a great reassurance of security and love... They didn't have to worry about doing anything more than being in other's presence, and that in itself was more than enough to make them happy.

----

The rumor mill was already onto them from that hour, but not to any negative effect for the admirers. In fact, most became even more excited to hear that Taichi and Yamato were able to show physical signs of affection. In the hallways during lunch, the girl named Lise could only cross her arms at the comments her peers were making.

" Wow... I want him to do that with me!"

" You think they'd do other things, too? Heheheh..."

Conveniently, Taichi and Yamato passed by them, the brunette regalling a story about his household cat. The females visibly backed to make room for them in the hallway to continue their secret admiration. Sparked by the day's earlier events, they decided to follow the duo as they walked down the hallway. They went all the way to the other side of the school. When the boys casually slipped into the orchestra room, seeming not to notice the mass of people following them, the girls gave each other intrigued looks.

" What do you suppose they're doing in the music hall?"

" I've never been here before..."

Lise smirked. Why wasn't she surprised that some of them have never been to the music hall?

The girls peeped inside the orchestra room pensively, afraid of getting caught. They found the boys to be out of sight, however, gone into another room nearby. The second practice room to their right had its light on, indicating the boys' location.

" Oh my God... I hear piano music... we're getting a free mini-concert!"

Indeed, inside the practice room, Yamato was playing the piano. The practice room was rather small, barely enough to fit the span of the upright piano. Yamato sat directly on the center of the piano bench, while Taichi leaned his back against the blonde's shoulder. It was rather interesting that the two of them were alone in such a claustrophobic room... but the moment was short lived, as the lunch bell rang. Knowing they only had 5 minutes until their next class started, the females quickly shuffled out of the music hallway and went their separate ways. Taichi and Yamato followed soon afterwards, brushing their shoulders with smug looks on their faces.

----

The day went by without more amusing events for the two boys, since they only had two classes after lunch. The direction home was the usual for them; they lost anybody potential followers by making a stop at their shack, protected by the many trees engulfing the area. Even though the trees were bare from the frigid weather, nobody else had dared to approach this shack where Taichi and Yamato first coined their friendship. After a short discussion to plan where they were going to make their song, they decided that Taichi's house was best... as always.

Thoughts of his family always put Yamato in a somewhat peculiar trance. Not that Taichi minded that much... Yamato spacing out meant that he was vulnerable to attacks. Attacks least expected... or perhaps most expected?

As the dim light above them flickered, Taichi leaned over and most flippantly placed his arms around the blonde. Yamato barely noticed it at first; his face maintained the look of someone who had just taken too many medical drugs. As Taichi's hands wandered into more suggestive areas, the other started showing signs of life. Suddenly, the edge of Yamato's mouth twitched as he realized the rich lighting of the area was a rather interesting turn on...

Not that it was the first time he thought of being intimate in the shack. He couldn't deny his kinky side... Yamato sighed, giving in to his hormones. He doubted he would regret this in the future, anyhow. " Taichi..." He retaliated in the fashion of the position they were in, turning around in Taichi's arms and aiming for the lips. He didn't have to aim very carefully, as his target was moving toward him in the first place. Their tongues seemed to meld together in the center of their meeting, lovingly caressing each other. Taichi mumbled something completely inaudible, then proceeded to shift closer for easier access. He loved having Yamato like this-- in his arms, willing to submit to his every need-- despite how cheesy it sounded. And well... it wasn't EVERY one of his needs... they were still human, after all. But oh, it was so heavenly...

----

February 27, 2004

Takeru silently observed the band. Daisuke was, as usual, bringing Ken's confidence up without actually taking note of it, and Taichi and Yamato were engaged in close, serious conversation. Thus was the norm for their break time... Takeru rarely stopped to converse with them, but they all respected how hard he worked. The other boys were hardly as willing to spend hours at the keyboard, fitting every one of their songs into perfection. None of them were able to keep the commitment that Takeru had with the band. He was the one who designed their website, ran their errands... yet he made no complaints about doing the extra work. Although, the other boys had to feel somewhat shameful for being so outdone.

' It's their problem,' Takeru had mused before. It didn't concern him that much that he did most of the work. In fact, he rather enjoyed it. He was freely able to boast of his accomplishments fully without feeling unmodest.

Several things had changed during this period of their band's success. All five of the boys had increasingly grown incompetant of their producer, who was eventually pitched. They felt slightly guilty for betraying one of the people who was responsible for their success, but it had to be done. If they hadn't, the producer would have been their downfall as well. Mrs. Hake had taken the position that the previous producer, Ross, had left behind. It was a bit unusual; the person who Takeru was grudging against was now one of the most helpful. Mrs. Hake now took care of the main paperwork concerning copyright and renting the concert stadium, while Takeru handled concert dates and advertising.

On his keyboard, he tested a programmed submelody in different instruments to find which one was most appealing. " No, organ pipes definitely won't do... chimes are out... maybe if I turn up the echo for orchestra..."

" Takeru, are you screwing with my song?" Daisuke called from backstage. " You know how liable every thing in existence is to succumb to your sexy stature."

Takeru gave a look of consternation, still staring at the keyboard as Daisuke trotted over. " Yes, I'm screwing with your song," he admitted. He looked up from his work to glance at the spiky-haired boy, then blinked several times, as if readjusting his eyes.

" W-what?" Daisuke stuttered, stopping in his tracks.

" Your shirt."

" What about it?" he asked, looking down. It was an old Six Flags shirt he had gotten a couple summers back when he first arrived in America. It was a drabby white, and the logo was worn out a bit.

" I could've sworn it said 'Sex Flamingo,' Takeru replied dully.

Daisuke's lips sank to the bottom of his face. He had no idea what to say to that.

" Gese, even your sister is more insightful than you are," Takeru noted.

" Uruse, na" Daisuke pouted. " Of course she is. She's older than I am."

" Anyway, tell me what you think of this," Takeru said to change the subject. He set the keyboard to play the sequence with the new adjustments.

And so the evening came, the night of another Bishounen Boys concert. Daisuke took his song as perfect with Takeru's change (Daisuke was literally running down the concert hallway screaming " EVERYONE BOW DOWN TO THE OWNAGE OF GATE1!"), and Taichi and Yamato insisted that they do a duet. They had done a few duets in previous concerts, but they seemed different about asking to do one this time. The soon-to-be high schoolers stared at them suspiciously, but they didn't know what to make of it.

" Taichi-san and Yamato-san are pretty strange sometimes," Daisuke commented, " I wonder if high school did something to them. They're almost... TOO serious."

Suddenly, a "conk" noise from behind hit his head.

" It's because WE are serious," Taichi said, showing himself, then walking with Yamato to the dressing room.

Takeru quirked his eyebrow. Did Taichi emphasize the wrong word, or...

" Aaaa," Daisuke said in frustration, rubbing the back of his head where Taichi had knocked his fist upon. He turned on his fold-up chair. " I don't get them at all." Despite such claim, he too knew something was up with Taichi and Yamato... he just couldn't comprehend what was going on in his thought process. He was a genius... just a very confused genius.

----

The crowds cheered as they usually did, the boys thrilling at the excitement they were making. Daisuke's song was a great hit, and with the new improvement, he felt an exuberant energy born within him as he sang. This was going to be an exhilarating night, he could feel it. Even if Taichi and Yamato were going to hog part of the spotlight with their duet...

The three younger boys settled down behind the stage curtains, allowing the crowd to simmer.

" You ready for this, Yama?" Taichi asked huskily, still somewhat taken from the previous song. He wiped his forehead, brushing against his headband. He had worn the headband on his first day at school in America...

Pulling a single microphone off its stand for the both of them, Yamato sat down on a dark block on the center of the stage. The lights dimmed and the crowd quieted slightly. Taichi sat down close next to the blonde, then hooked a hand with Yamato's on the microphone.

They crooned softly and pensively at first, singing of unrequited love, followed by a spark of hope. Suddenly, Taichi bellowed a sweet upbeat and leapt from his seat, causing the audience to jolt happily. Yamato preceded after him, clasping his hand over Taichi's on the microphone this time. The song changed to one of new, optimistic promises that had the audience lifting off their seats in moments.

The stark melody filled the stage, flowing through every seat and pack of air available. The whole area seemed to be bubbling with their passion. The moment was short-lived, however. The song was rather short, and the quick-pace of the song suddenly died. And then... there was nothing...except the soft murmuring noises that leaked into the microphone and out through the speakers. It wasn't excessively long, but it was enough to catch the attention of everyone in the vicinity. When they broke apart, they gave one small glance at the audience before departing the stage. They had just performed the last song of the concert, so they were free to leave.

The reactions were greatly varied. Takeru was calculating something in his mind (which could be easily mistaken for his indifference), Daisuke's mouth was gaping open along with Ken's, and the crowd... a dictionary simply could not have the answers to describing the crowd's reaction.

It was simpler than the two boys thought it would be. So simple, in fact, that any trace of worry at that moment was demolished by their contentment. They were ready for anything that would happen after tonight...

----

March 1, 2004

It was supposed to be another dull morning, or maybe not. Who wouldn't expect so much commotion to result from their concert? They weren't surprised at the varying amount of stories as they entered the school together early in the morning.

Usually, people left them alone in the morning, too "busy" with their school shinanigans. However, a group of females was huddled at the entrance of the school this morning. Nobody needed to ask them why they were so early...

" Matt!"

" Tai! I can't believe what you did! I WON'T believe it!"

The two rolled their eyes simultaneously, but all in humor. These girls, who had rarely spoken to the boys upfront, were suddenly outraged... typical. They hustled past the group, trying to leave them in the dust. Not to their surprise, the girls followed them all the way to the other side of the school. Each female's faces burned with different levels of fury, jealousy, confusion, and disappointment.

All of the females raised their eyebrows as they watched Yamato and Taichi walk into the orchestra room. They were about to butt in, when the sound of music stopped them. Slowly, they crept inside the orchestra room, pausing at the first practice room. The girls fought for a peek through the small practice room door window, but finally, one of them got the upper edge... Jesse.

Yamato was playing a piece with an endless right hand movement, beautiful pedaling adding to the romantic taste. He had such a tranquil expression on his face as he played for Taichi, who was sitting on the bench next to him. Taichi gently leaned onto the blonde's shoulder, bathing himself in the continuous notes that flowed nicely in his ears.

" What weirdos," one of the females who had no more view of the boys muttered. " I can't believe they led us on that long just to come to that."

" I think it's beautiful!" one of them nearly shrieked. The females surrounding her shushed her up after giving her death glares.

" I want them even more now," one of them said, her eerie seriousness silencing the others.

" Jess, are you okay...?"

" Oh, forget her, she's too serious about them to realize what kind of hole she's sinking i-"

" LISE! Shut up."

Lise sighed, residing on the outskirts of the mini-crowd. This had been going on for too long, that even the other females, dense as they were, began to sense the lack of meaning to their actions. Pride sucked them into avoiding the realization, however. Fortunately for Lise, she was never really pulled into the situation in the first place. Still, she couldn't find it in her heart to leave her peers as they were.

The few "lucky" females who had a view through the small practice door wooed as the piano piece came to an end. However, they quirked when they noticed Taichi wasn't just leaning on Yamato's shoulder anymore...

No more, indeed, for they were set in each other's arms in full make-out mode. They seemed to have contained a lot inside them until that moment. Their sudden passion startled the girls. One of them set her hands on the knob, but the others pulled her back. For some reason, some of them couldn't help but be entranced by the scene...

" I have to stop them! I have to..."

" Jesse, get a hold of yourself," one of them finally said.

It turns out the one who had wanted to turn the knob was Jesse herself. Much to the surprise of the other girls, she knelt down to a fetal position and began sobbing. Some of the girls tried to comfort her, but none of them could really do anything... It was a hopeless case. She was learning the hard way...

' She's learning the hard way because she put it all upon herself,' Lise growled in thought. ' Taichi and Yamato probably think the same thing.'

She turned on her heels, then stormed from the scene. None of the girls even noticed her leave. She spent the rest of her morning waiting outside of her classroom for the first bell to ring.

----

March 2, 2004

Orchestra was an interesting challenge when it came to the Bishounen Boys fan base. The previous day was almost no different from this one, where the class could hardly focus on their music, resulting in the conductor's frustration. However, they had plenty of time to prepare for their spring concert, and the music didn't require too much work as a whole. After half of the class was spent playing over their songs, the conductor finally let them put their instruments away.

" I'm too nice to you guys," she said defeatedly, packing the items on her stand. Most of the orchestra didn't hear her, however, as they were already conversing amongst themselves. Taichi and Yamato were on their way towards one of the practice rooms with their backpacks on their backs, when she stopped them.

" I swear I thought you two were strict on the music scene, but it seems that you've been losing focus lately as well," she sighed. " Where are you going, anyway?"

" Just to the practice room, if that's all right with you, Mrs. Hinderliter," Yamato replied coyly.

" Oh, okay," she said indifferently. " You know what? I take back what I said about your focus on music. It's just... very different from what I perceive it as..."

Taichi frowned slightly, then turned away so Mrs. Hinderliter wouldn't see him. She was always concerned with where the world was going with the art realm. Taichi shared her concerns, but her intimidating personality kept him away from discussing it with her further.

" Alas, the arts are dying in this school..." she ambled back to her conductor's chair.

That kind of made him feel guilty. In a way, the Bishounen Boys was taking some of the traditional arts from the school. Even though he had started with playing cello solos and such, he had recently been implementing them in their modern songs. It wasn't uncommon to hear a violin or flute combined with a synthetic piano rhythm. He had even heard some unusual traditional chinese instrument blends with high-tech beats...

Taichi and Yamato stepped into the practice room, switching the light on (the light was too bright for Taichi's taste, since he preferred the shack's setting...) and sitting on the piano bench. The stuffed their backpacks in the space between the piano bench and the wall. Yamato ran his hands across the keyboard to play a few random scales. Taichi grinned with inspiration, then brought out his CD player from his backpack.

" Na, na, Ya-ma-to," he chimed. " You remember playing Borodine's Polovetsian Dances? Listen to this."

In the private chambers of the tiny room, Taichi lifted his headphones and reached his arm over Yamato's back. The other musician snuggled in closer, gently taking the microphone buds from Taichi's hands and putting them on.

" Maaya Sakamoto and Steve Conte," Taichi noted as the song started, " Listen to Maaya in the chorus."

After several minutes...

" What the... it can't..." Yamato uttered, bewildered, " It is! Cool..."

Taichi tilted his head to gaze at Yamato and smiled like an innocent ten-year old. " It's SO nice to have someone actually enjoy that with me. I thought I'd be the only one who found it amusing."

" Nope, you're not the only one. Sorry to take the glory away from you," Yamato said as his lips formed a smirk.

The obscurity within the words they shared couldn't be matched by anything else; it was that special to them. His spirit lifted, Taichi leaned over and wrapped his arms around the other boy, resting his chin on Yamato's soft hair. Still listening to the song, Yamato settled in Taichi's hold. He rested his back against Taichi's layered chest and continued to marvel at the music flowing into his ears.

Taichi's smile softened even further as he leaned back against the wall, Yamato between his knees. Everything felt so nice at that moment... Even if he could see the surprised faces outside the window out of the corner of his eye.

" What are you girls doing over there?" Mrs. Hinderliter interrogated, noticing the entire female violin-player population was crowded around the practice room.

Most of them uttered fragmented phrases, while the others remained fixated on the view inside.

Mrs. Hinderliter let out a deep chortle, amused at the high-school antics. " Come back over here," the conductor continued, half-scolding and half-joking, " Leave their friendship be!"

" But... but they're not just..." one of them started. She was unable to continue, as her vocal chords failed her.

" I highly doubt they're interested in leaving graffiti or something in there, girls. Come back."

The girls hadn't felt like saying anything about the relationship that time, but it certainly wouldn't stay that way, they expected. The teachers would find out sooner or later... the orchestra girls had no problem with it, since most of them were focused on other things rather than relationships.

But who could resist a small peek at the boys once in a while...?

----

June 4, 2004

" Daisuke! Move aside, let me fight this one. You really have no skill for RPGs, you know! Mataku.."

" Onee-san! Yaaaaaaadaaaaaaaaaaa" the spiky-haired boy whined, half-heartedly pulling the controller from his sister's hands. She, however, won easily by simply standing from her position, leaving Daisuke to mumble on the ground next to her feet.

Daisuke rested his head on his hand and arm, tapping his fingers against his cheek. He was plenty frustrated with the game, so he wasn't quite perturbed that someone was helping him, but he still had a sense of pride...

Fortunately, the phone rang, letting Daisuke have an excuse to leave the room. He had been expecting this call all day, even throughout the entire final day of school.

" Ken!" he nearly shouted into the phone.

The one on the other side of the line took a while to reply. " Mou, not so loud."

" It's about time you called! I was about to break a window or something."

" Hey, it takes me longer to get home, give me a break."

" Anyway, we need to organize this thing you were talking about..."

" I-I was just suggesting it, I didn't think you'd take me seriously."

" I always take you seriously!" Daisuke said flippantly, seeming to counteract his own words. Still, he could feel Ken smiling on the other line. " So what days are you available next week?"

----

June 7, 2004

Daisuke's home was perfect for a friendly gathering. His family had its own kitchen bar, an exercise room, a pool table, and a pool itself. There was even an outdoor hot tub...

For the moment, all five boys were happy in the lounging room, taking turns with the Super Smash Brothers N64 game. Daisuke only had three controllers, so two of them were always left to watch the others in the background.

Taichi and Yamato seemed to be okay with the younger teens hogging the game spots, telling from their hushed conversations behind them.

Everything seemed to be going at the same pace until Daisuke's sister wandered into the room on her way to the kitchen.

" UWAH!"

Everyone including Yamato jumped at Taichi's sudden outbreak. The boys looked at where Taichi was naively pointing, and the female looked back in slight surprise.

" It's Lise!" Taichi spouted like a child pointing to a popular toy.

" Oh," she said, making a small wave with her hand as a greeting. " Sorry I didn't come to greet you earlier. I guess my headphones were too loud."

" Onee-san! Are you still using my CD player?" Daisuke called, turning back to the N64 game.

" Of course," she said quickly, " This is what you get for taking my Sprite Remix."

" Lise is your sister? That's so strange that we didn't know until now," Taichi commented in the midst of the sibling conversation.

" You know her or something? I barely know anything about her, even though I've lived with her for so long..." Daisuke mumbled, mainly focusing on the game.

" A few years isn't that long," she interjected. Daisuke just frowned a bit and cocked his head. He had just sent Takeru's game character into oblivion.

" A few years?" Yamato wondered.

" I'm adopted. My parents died in a car accident a few years ago," she said insightfully as she rummaged through the refrigerator.

" Well, that explains why your hair color's so different," Taichi commented. As if responding to him, Lise ran a hand through her long blonde hair before closing the refrigerator, a fresh nectarine in her hand.

" Your parents must be really nice or something to take a teenager in," Ken commented when she was out of earshot.

" Actually, she's here to teach my parents English. My parents don't know as much as I do."

" You know too much if you ask me. Same with you other boys. How did you all learn to speak so fluently?"

Ken: "Advanced classes."

Takeru: " Self-study."

Daisuke: " From you, of course."

Taichi: " Hi-mi-tsu."

Yamato: " Self-study."

Lise frowned heavily. " I don't know why, but I expected those answers. Why did I bother asking? Oh, well... I'm going." She set off to her own room.

Another several rounds of Daisuke owning all of his comrade's rear ends in the video game, and the others finally realized it was useless to struggle against him. Knowing that the others were starting to get unnerved from his game skills, Daisuke suggested that they cool off in his swimming pool. What a better way to celebrate the beginning of summer with diving into a huge tub of water!

Daisuke wasn't trying to be sarcastic about it, but somehow he had ended up coming off that way. Nevertheless, the boys peeled off any uneccessary clothes articles and immediately headed to the back pool. Along the way, Daisuke picked up his goggles and neatly set them in his hair.

Taichi and Yamato raided the swimming noodles and began to clobber each other with them in the shallow end. Daisuke set up small basketball on opposite sides of the pool before joining the others.

" Try to keep it PG-13 or less over there, you two," Takeru called after he had jumped into the deep end. Taichi, at the moment, was prodding Yamato in rather suggestive places with the noodle...

Taichi gave an overweeming chuckle. " Come on, Takeru. You know you want some action, too."

Takeru growled as he treaded water. " I don't have any idea of what you're talking about."

Suddenly, Daisuke and Ken quite deliberately swam into Takeru. Daisuke had a basketball in his hands as he nudged Takeru's shoulder with his own.

" Ahoy, hoy," the goggle boy, his words sweet with a tint of mischief. " Ken and I are going to play basketball, but we have an odd number here. What should we do about it?"

The way the boys were hanging over the blonde made it seem as if they were drunk. Then again, it wasn't the first time they had acted like that.

" Stop that," Takeru said shortly, pushing them off, " I'm not a great treader."

Daisuke pouted. Ken seemed disappointed.

" And I don't feel like playing basketball either. Especially in the water. I'll go tan or something..."

He started to swim to the end of the pool to get up, but the others dragged him back in.

Aside from the three younger boys' foolery, Taichi and Yamato grew tired of their noodle fight and were now simply relaxing in the cool water.

Daisuke, Ken and Takeru didn't manage to maintain a score board for their game (since most of it was spent clobbering Takeru when he tried to escape the pool), but eventually, they fell weary and took a break.

" Oi, omae-tachi!" Daisuke called to the two older boys as he swam over to the shallow end. Taichi and Yamato were both lying on their backs on the water, their ears buried under the liquid. Grinning waywardly, he went for the brunette's armpits to catch his attention, and he was quite successful.

Taichi made a rather voluble shout of profanity as he stood upright to get away from Daisuke, a shout beginning with the English letter "F." Daisuke winced; He hoped the neighbors didn't hear that. It saved him from having to do the same to Yamato, however, as his attention was caught from the explosion.

" What do you want, Daisuke?" Taichi said rather irritably.

The goggle boy sulked somewhat. He didn't like it when the older boys looked down on him like that. In spite of this, he coughed lightly into his mouth and gazed at them with a serious glint in his eyes. And when Daisuke got serious...

" We need to have a talk about our band... a long talk about everything concerning it."

----

- This section has been bastardized by FF.N. Thank you. -

----

Tsuzuku...

----

It's kind of ironic that my most disliked science teacher ended up having such a kind role. ; Oh well.

I did warn that Daisuke's sister wasn't Jun on his website profile. Did anybody suspect this...? Ya, the secret's out. D

Of course, reviews. Oh GOD do I need them, hehe. I probably shed about 5 pounds of hair during the writing of this... ;

Splash

gottaito. 


	14. Part 13: Michishirube

-------

The Bishounen Boys

Part 13: "Michishirube"

By Splash

-------

Hahahaaa, I said this part would come out sooner but it ended up coming later. --; I'm ashamed of myself. -gets over herself-

O Review response!

Sillie: O This is the last... omigod omigod fangirlishness!

nEo-cHaN: I am slow. I'm sorry. If life went exactly like I wanted... I'd be able to post like hundreds of thousands of words of Taito every day... QQ; I hope you like this update. XD

chibi kidl: Yes, I do know it links to 10 instead of 11. At first it was an accident, but I decided not to change it back. It's easy to get around, so it prevents people from randomly stumbling onto the page. If you still can't figure it out, the full version is also displayed on ;

jarf-kun: lol... I seem to pop out of nowhere with these updates, ne. I dunno, I think I have a thing against making warnings. warnings... makes my fic sound like an impending plague! Yay! O

Aero-Grrl: head spinning Mannnnn I wish time to update (and less of a writer's block ) like you guys do Thanks Aero!

Lady Moon: Naw, the Lise situation was just a little thing that I had planned a long time ago, but didn't have any time to lavish, but I wanted to put it on somewhere. It's definitely not a big deal in the fic. XD

sorryiamnolongeravailble: Mm... change of pen name? It happens, I guess. Strange how those personality traits just sort of snuck in on me. ;

Jacqueline Land: One can never have too many reviews. D English is actually one of my struggling subjects (because of cough teachers), but it's all in the

fun of Taito. D I'll definitely look for Kaiken Phrase once I get time... I have sooo much Anime to watch. When I read back on the older chapters, I thin

... "What the hell was I on..." sometimes ; I really hate reworking things (Oh GOD I hate it when oekaki windows close before I save it... or I screw up an art piece completely), so I doubt I'll rework them, though. I move on too easily sometimes.

Neko no Basu: Akiramenaide! Never give up! D I tried to let the fic keep up with my grades, but I guess it didn't turn out that way, lol. But uh... it's finished now! Let Sora go back to her cage. XD

Blackout12: Yay, thanks for rating! Those are always fun to see. "Remember that irony makes the most fun out of life!" I LIKE that quote. Yikes. D

Noble Maiden: Aww, I'm all blushy. scratches back of head and huggles you Thankyuu

Dreamcrafter: Very interesting place Takeru is in... indeed! I'm so glad you enjoyed TBB! BTW, I LOVE the word kudos. o.o;

Butterflie,fka Crimson Goddess: Whoa, thanks for all the individual reviews! Helped me figure out what you were saying for each. XD Hope you like this conclusion.

Honor: Whoa, too bad doesn't get much attention... it's pretty much my back-up storage for fics now. Yay...! Still getting reviews. Here's your update!

Adult note: The legal age to have sex is 16 in Michigan (although one has to be 18 to get an abortion without parent permission, but that's another subject), so Taichi and Yamato are safe... even if they first did it in Quebec ..

And pardon some sections... I've had it really rough and couldn't find a better way to vent it out. Watch out for time warps and strange flashbacks! XDDDD

----

June 7, 2004

Taichi's uninterested look indicated that he hadn't taken Daisuke seriously yet. However, the younger brunette kept a strong hold on his stance. Every pore in his body shouted " LET'S TALK, DAMMIT."

Surprisingly, Yamato didn't have anything to say against it. He knew what Daisuke wanted to bring up, but had he given up being apprehensive about it? Taichi could only hope...

" Do you want to go inside, or are you okay staying here?" Daisuke asked as the other boys approached them outside the pool.

" Hot tub?" Taichi said hopefully. Daisuke groaned strangely at the thought.

" As much as I want to go, too, I don't trust that you'll be able to pay attention in there..."

The taller brunette shrugged, then stepped out of the pool. The boys dried themselves before congregating at the umbrella-roofed table near Daisuke's back door.

" All right," Takeru started, directing his comments towards Taichi and Yamato. " I assume Daisuke asked you about our proposed discussion."

" Yeah."

" Well, that's a first, he actually remembered," Takeru mumbled under his fist before quickly continuing, " We didn't ask you about the new situation until now to give you and the public some time for the news to settle, since there was nothing we could do except make matters worse."

Taichi and Yamato glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. They didn't need to say anything.

" One thing I wanna ask before anything," Daisuke asked, " Why they heck did you do it without asking us?"

" Daisuke," Takeru started, " Let me handle this. Guys, how long has this relationship been going on?"

Yamato answered. " Several months..."

A low murmur ran through Takeru's vocal chords. " I thought so... After you guys came back from France, right?"

Taichi's eyebrows lifted. " I'm impressed. You saw right through us."

" Well, I knew you guys were into each other even before the trip. When I first met you, Taichi, you guys were like where Daisuke and Ken are at currently."

Daisuke turned his head, not having paid attention to the conversation until he heard his name. " Hu?"

Ken, meanwhile, was hot red. He was at a loss for words.

" Yeah... but seriously. At least you could have announced it to US first. We could have... helped."

" Maybe... but we didn't want it."

" Shows how much you care for the band," Daisuke muttered.

" Daisuke," Takeru said warningly. He turned back to the couple. " Well, besides the news spreading like wildfire, I think we're going to be okay."

True it was. Even though most of the fans griped during the first wave of realization, the negative comments stopped after a few days. Most came to accept the relationship -- some even loved it, surprise, surprise-- and those who backed out weren't dedicated, anyway. Such people were easily replaced by those who had been intrigued by the news and who had come to appreciate the Bishounen Boys. Naturally, their popularity had increased with such news around their schools. The band had stopped relying on the school auditorium recently and moved to a more public area, so there was nothing the school board could do to touch them. Not like the school board paid much attention to them in the first place. But it they had heard of Taichi and Yamato's incident... they would have done something to get the Bishounen Boys ousted, no doubt.

" Then what's to discuss? I don't see the point of this conversation," Taichi said.

" Well... we've gotten an offer. A big one. As in... nationwide big. This is our chance for big profits."

" And big mistakes," Taichi countered, " You want us to go commercial. Did you read the fine print on the contract? Did it forget to mention screwing us over after a few years when nobody remembers the contract anymore? Whoever's sponsering will probably dump us after they sap everything out of us."

Takeru frowned, " I did read it, and it didn't seem to mention anything like that."

" That's not what I mean, Takeru," Taichi interjected. " If we go big, it takes at least 300 more commitment than we're already pulling. You guys are still in middle school. What are your values on education?"

That stopped the young blonde. He was silent for a minute, thinking deeply.

" I don't like school," Daisuke said plainly.

Ken piped in all of a sudden. " It's okay, I guess."

Taichi nodded, still in a strange, sage mood. " I don't like it either, yet I'd rather stay in it than expand our popularity. We could gain a lot with going nationwide, but we will for sure lose a lot. I don't really like the gains compared to the losses. We also can't be certain that this contract would work in the first place."

" I read it! I know it would work!" Takeru snapped. He didn't like it when his judgment was mistrusted, as rarely as that happened.

Yamato, who had been sitting with his arms crossed, finally spoke. " I... I'm with Taichi on this one."

" Yamato!" Takeru said, exasperated. " This is such a good opportunity! How can you-"

" You listen, Takeru. Do you know why I'm a part of this group in the first place?"

The younger blonde remained still, not expecting such a question. " I don't," he said quietly. Daisuke and Ken glanced at Yamato, interest perked. Taichi did not show a change of emotion.

Takeru didn't quite feel at home. He had known Yamato for a long time, even longer than Taichi, yet at that moment, it was only Taichi that didn't need to know. Only Taichi knew the answer to Yamato's question beside Yamato himself. Even if Yamato was just another member of the band... it hurt. His lifelong friend confided in someone else now.

Finally breaking the silence, Yamato tilted his head downward, a position of high angst and anxiety. " My parents."

Yamato wasn't sure whether to continue or not, bringing Taichi's attention. How was he to start?

" I... they..." he shook his head. Tears were starting to build up on his eyes... no, he wanted them to go away. Not in front of the younger people, he didn't want to cry in front of them. But the memories evoked just from thinking about his parents... He put a hand on his forehead, intentionally blocking the view to his eyes. ' I can't tell them, I can't handle this... damn.'

Taichi watched his inner struggle, knowing he couldn't do much without pushing Yamato further. He took mental note to pamper the blonde later. Heheh... he liked doing that...

He put his emotional wall back up, firmer than ever.

A smiled played on his lips--one that indicated that he was trying to make a good situation out of a bad one. Taichi quirked an eyebrow; he had expected Yamato to do this, but it was still quite a sight. " Let's just say...I like making music for the relief. I don't expect it to give me any more. If I ask it to put food on the table for years to come, I'm also asking it to give me stress and suffering for years to come."

Takeru stared at him blankly for what felt like an eternity.

" All right," he finally stated. " I guess... I can see where you're coming from."

" I can't!" Daisuke moaned. " I'm confused!"

" They don't want in on the contract," Ken explained, smiling.

" Aww... but I thought it'd be fun," Daisuke pouted. " Next time, I guess. I'm going to the hot spa if we're done with this."

" Mm... wait for me," Ken said, following the goggle boy to the side of the house.

" Wasn't it Daisuke who wanted to have this conversation the most? Didn't he seem so serious before? And now... he's so..." Taichi's eyes followed the two as they left, " flippant."

" Yeah, that's how he is," Takeru said casually, " Actually, I didn't really want to sign the contract, either. I just wanted to hear what you guys had to say."

Yamato's eye twitched. " You tested us."

The younger blonde shrugged. " That's how it works."

Takeru reiterated their next concert's schedule to Taichi and Yamato before deciding to head to the hot tub as well. He got off his seat and turned the corner-- then jumped back. His eyes went wide at the sight before him.

Daisuke and Ken were sharing an ever-so-innocent kiss in each other's arms, the warmth of the hot pool surrounding them.

The shock didn't last long for the young blonde. After his initial reaction, he simply stood on the grass, clad only with his swim trunks, and scratched his hair in redundancy.

" What happened, Takeru?" Yamato asked as he and Taichi caught up with him.

" Adolescence," he said plainly. " Puberty happened."

Taichi and Yamato turned the corner to observe the commotion. The kiss had ended by them replaced by the two young boys staring into each other's eyes nervously, their newfound feelings brimming. Their arms were around each other... Yamato started laughing, much to the surprise of the others.

Daisuke and Ken suddenly jerked to the other sides of the hot tub, nervous expressions implanted on their faces. " Yo, guys," the goggle boy called.

" Lay off it, we only saw what we already knew," Takeru said, continuing his way to the hot tub.

Taichi glanced at his friend. " Yama, what..."

" Don't know why I find it funny," Yamato said, reducing his laugh to a chuckle, " but somehow I can see us doing the same thing."

The brunette crossed his arms as he started to stride over to the hot tub to join his flock. " Yeah... I can too," he said with a smirk.

Yamato cocked his head. " Why not?"

" You sure? You're not usually this bold."

Yamato gave one good, long look at Taichi. He didn't have to say any more.

Just as Takeru was about to settle in the hot tub, the two larger and older boys bounded inside, spilling nearly half of the water and causing a generally undesired disturbance. Ken, the only one to see the attack coming, shielded himself with his arms, while Daisuke and Takeru suffered the worst. Needless to say, they were a bit disgruntled.

When they finished shaking the water off, they looked over to see more kissing... this time Taichi and Yamato. Naturally, their act didn't seem innocent at all. Actually, it was quite a turn on...

They were well aware that the others were watching their rather extravagant display, but those boys had to get the temptation out of their system. Even on stage, they had held themselves back greatly. This was just the limit before they got carried away...

Well, they WOULD have gotten carried away if Daisuke hadn't splashed them, breaking their closeness.

" MOU!" Daisuke groaned. " You guys..."

Taichi pondered retaliating for a split second, then realized he was too horny to do anything to Daisuke without putting everyone in an uncomfortable position. All of his thoughts seemed to be off...

As last minute satisfaction, Taichi randomly groped under Yamato's swimming trunks. The bubbles in the hot tub hid that, but the others could still tell what he was doing. If it wasn't for Taichi's reaching arm, it was the expression of bliss on Yamato's face...

Daisuke and Ken stared at each other wide-eyed. Perhaps they had never seen such activity in real-time before. They looked... overly curious.

Takeru sweatdropped. " I'm surrounded."

" Don't worry too much," Taichi said, waving his hand up and down in the water like a mother trying to show modesty. " We'd let you join in, too."

" What...?" Takeru flushed red, " I don't..."

" Just admit it... you want something, too, I can tell by your frigidness," Taichi mused, " You really need something to loosen up for doing so much work."

" Don't know what you're talking about..."

Despite his blushing and awkward stance, the other boys couldn't do much except observe him. Takeru didn't seem to be giving in.

" Eh, he's still in denial, he'll get over it some other day," Ken commented.

" Well, sorry if I have a little more sense than to purposely decrease my morals when I don't want to," Takeru retorted. Daisuke and Ken looked slightly ashamed, while Taichi and Yamato maintained unreadable faces. Unreadable, as in they were grinning like mad and one could not tell if they were truly gay or just faking it. Takeru held a hand out to the center of the hot tub. " Let's just relax for now, hmm?"

The others nodded. " Sounds good," said Yamato as he rested his arms on the rim of the hot tub. A temporary session of pure living is always good to have...

----

January 14, 2005

Ah... the school hallways, full of random clusters of teenager... blooming, blooming in many ways. They talked the dirty, the clean, the tainted... Walking down the school hallways was always interesting. The walls were covered in --spectacular-- advertisements-- er... announcements.

" Breadlift... is comming!" -sweatdrop-

" Montage, submit your art and/or poetry today!" Hmm... Sounds good. Maybe I'll submit.

The hand-painting mural covering one side of an entire hallway, where each student in the school made their mark. Amongst the mass of colorful hands, one hand clearly indicated the punk rock symbol.

" I want YOU for Montage!"

" Come to the swim meet and watch these guys get wet!" -another sweatdrop-

Even though he didn't have Yamato in his class with Mr. Andrews this year, he found the class exceedingly better than his Freshmen year class. Maybe it was because it wasn't an honors class... well, it was almost 100 for that reason. Most of the students simply lacked skills or they were potentials without much commitment, which worked out fine for the brunette. There wasn't nearly as much work as he had in honor classes, and the work itself was easier to understand. It was his personal slacker class.

But that was okay. Taichi knew his priorities.

Most of the other students were sophomores, people that he didn't know existed. By the first couple months, most of the people in the class knew him, even though they spent only one small class period for introductions. He found more free somehow, compared to his tense advanced classes where everyone gave an aura or closed focus. Those advanced... if you weren't their friends with them before, there was no chance of befriending them then. With these sophomores, Taichi had a fresh chance. Most of the people were amiable.

Mr. Andrews was less of a tyrant. Taichi's view of him as a grumpy person who enjoyed discipline changed to an incredibly knowledgeable man with intriguing sarcasm. Actually, there wasn't that much of a change within Mr. Andrews himself (although his teaching techniques had grown much more useful), but Taichi felt his tolerance for his World Studies teacher improving over the year. He thought he would dread having Mr. Andrews again. He will never forget... first year's meh, second year's nice... Third is a charm.

----

Fourth year with a teacher... is a nightmare. It makes one want to go back to first year... at least for Taichi's case in orchestra. Mrs. Hinderliter's senile personality was starting to get to him...

Occasionally, a freshmen would saunter straight through the crowds, yelling, " I'm gonna be late for class! Shove it!" Occasionally, a freshmen wouldn't even have the time to tell people of his distress.

" Whoa, there," came the response from the hallway victims.

" Fag," one of them retorted. It didn't matter whether it was male or female... Because if Taichi could identify that person, he would be getting quite the enlightenment at the moment. He had to get to orchestra, however... Mrs. Hinderliter didn't appreciate slow people, and he wanted to see Yamato.

" Mataku..."

The class commenced, students listening to the concertmaster's A note. Taichi glanced at his stand partner, a usually lively girl who conserved herself in class. She was a good contribution to the orchestra; she could play all the notes, she knew the rhythms, she knew how to follow the conductor. She had only mild commitment to the orchestra, but it was enough to satisfy the conductor. Most of the other students couldn't care less if the orchestra didn't exist. Taichi admitted he wouldn't be sobbing either, but there would still be an element of pity.

Taichi enjoyed being concertmaster of the cello section, he felt proud to take the responsibilities of one and he did his best at it. He didn't waste time in the beginning of class to socialize; he immediately got his instrument out and set up a stand for himself and his stand partner. There were only a few other people who did similarly-- the 1st chair of the 2nd violins, and one of the violists. Taichi was decent friends with both of them. After setting up everything he needed to start class, he spent any additional time sharing his music interests with them and Yamato. They would play Bach partitas and suites, random concertos or duets with each other. The conductor looked disapprovingly at them when they did this...

After some scolding from the conductor, Taichi could only give his orchestra buddies knowing glances. ' Why doesn't she say anything to the people hanging in the back who haven't even gotten instruments out yet?' would be the silent, unspoken question. Saying it out loud was also unspoken... the conductor would just blow prideful anger back at them. Yamato knew his orchestra grade was being affected by this, sadly. At times he considered quitting the orchestra because of the conductor's incompetence. It felt like being on the soccer team all over again. However, this time it had more complications... he couldn't really fit a different class to do instead of orchestra at that hour, and he didn't want to back out with only half a year left.

Incompetance. He dealed with it every day. He did his best to tolerate it. Luckily for him, he had people like Yamato to take him away from the pressures of such trifles. ' Yama's beautiful like that.'

----

December 28, 2005

Taichi knew exactly how Yamato's family treated him, and how their relationship grew more strained over the years. Yamato wasn't one to go up to someone and instantly pour out all of his feelings. He was too self-conscious for that, and he was also concerned about his peer image. He didn't want to come out as a troublesome person. So when Taichi firmly came out and asked Yamato to tell him EVERYTHING, he was shocked at first.

He didn't know what to do. Nobody had even considered asking him about his troubles. All of the people who had taken interest in him just wanted his body or his work...

He was "used and abused," to sum it up in a few words. But that was all in the past; he never let anyone get to him at that magnitude ever since he entered high school. His martial arts training made sure of that. He hadn't taken lessons since he left for America, but he didn't need to learn more after making his stand at school with the more rowdy bullies.

But just because he could defend himself physically didn't mean he could do it mentally as well. His parents had a natural hold on him... they were able to suck out every last bit of willpower he had in his grasp. One moment, they would seem as cheerful as a sunny day, and the next moment, they would spout off like rain coming down in torrents. There was always a danger of a flash flood in Yamato's home. It certainly didn't make leisure time there comfortable.

Fortunately, there was time every day for him to have the house to himself. Both of his parents worked full-time, leaving almost three hours between the end of school and their return home. On some days, Yamato only had the energy to utilize this time for napping...

It was on this rather glorious winter day, however, that Taichi visited his home. Yamato's parents were FINALLY using their paid vacation time (although he would have HIGHLY preferred that they use it when he WASN'T on vacation), so they were home most of the time. Fortunately, his parents were able to leave him alone in the house for one day, in which Yamato took full advantage and called Taichi over. The two finished eating their ramen noodle lunch and were lounging on the living room couch.

" Na, Yamato," Taichi started in all seriousness, his arms casually slung over the back of the couch and his neck relaxing on the curve. " How's life?"

On the center square cushion where Yamato always sat, he looked at the brunette. That question indicated the beginning of Taichi wanting to hear everything on his mind.

" Don't you ever get tired of listening to me?" Yamato asked.

Taichi looked back at him without moving his position. " Why would I?"

" You don't have to be my counselor... I feel like I'm burdening you with all of my problems."

Taichi sat up, ruffling his hair. " Yama, I do this because I want to. If something's troubling you, it troubles me. If anything, I think I'm a burden to you sometimes..."

The violin player blinked, confused. " Why would you possibly think that..." he said softly.

The memory of their first band performance flowed through Taichi's mind. He narrowed his eyes as if he had eaten some bitter melon. Oh, gods, he hated that stuff... Not being able to sing without Yamato... acting like a complete bitch without him around... he didn't want to keep depending on him like that, but he felt completely empty without Yamato. Unlike Taichi, Yamato probably wasn't aware of Taichi's dependency on him, but he left it for Yamato to figure out on his own. He wasn't worried that Yamato would leave him for that anymore. Taichi felt quite content comforting Yamato for everything he did in return...

" It's not important, trust me," Taichi answered after a while. " So, what's the new mother-nightmare?"

" Oh, just the usual lecturing-while-I-try-do-homework," Yamato muttered. He thought for a moment, then added. " Then again... a few days ago..."

He still hesitated to spill the truth, his security wall wouldn't break down so easily.

Taichi scooted over and wrapped Yamato in his arms, resting his chin on Yamato's back.

" I was in my room composing something, and my parents are on vacation so they're home all the time."

Taichi held on tighter. He knew by now that Yamato's parents were never good news.

" I was just composing, mixing stuff on my computer keyboard and my dad came by and mumbled some shit, then continued on. He did it again a few minutes later, but I didn't comprehend anything so I just kept composing," Yamato gave a worried look, worry for himself and the situation, " All of a sudden, I heard a huge scream downstairs... my mom's high pitch shrill, screaming at me. It's scary. I hate hearing it. It's why I'm never afraid of horror movies... who needs horror movies when you've got a mother who lacks considerate anger management?"

The brunette frowned, but he continued to listen.

" I couldn't do anything except abandon all my composition work and rush downstairs to see what the hell she wanted. She wanted me to oil the bowls for a dish she and dad were making. She kept screaming, Taichi... kept telling me that I was a delinquent and that I had no consideration for them. I was trying to do them a favor by not bugging them... they should know by now I don't like to butt in their business, and that they shouldn't butt into mine. And if they don't know, how can I explain it to them? Fuck..."

" They don't know the fundamentals of living with a teenager? Sad parents, they are," Taichi said, facing the blonde and smiling slightly.

Yamato smiled back faintly. " By the way, both of my parents also said that I had no social skills and that it'll never get me anywhere in life. Yah, that's why I got accepted into one of the most prestigious colleges in the states... because of my lack of social skills. Oh, pleaaaaaeee..."

Taichi held back a laugh. Yamato was sounding quite feminine at the moment...

Taichi gave him a pat on the shoulder. " Just a few more months, and then college will come. And then..."

" I can be haunted by her incessant daily calls. And if I don't answer, she'll call over and over again for hours. And if I have an answering machine, she'll say ' hello, are you there?' over and over for another minute before recalling."

The brunette stared at him. " Wow."

" Well, I'm exaggerating, but she really would be annoying when it comes to the calling. The other night she was up past 3 a.m. talking to old relatives back in Japan. Now these relatives are really short of hearing, so she talks really loudly and doesn't close the door. She's in the room right next to me, too! I tried slamming my door to give her a hint, but it seems I can't be subtle with anyone, anymore! If one can even call THAT subtle..."

Taichi grinned. " Aren't you subtle with me?"

" I guess. I'm not always aware of myself."

" I think you are. Sometimes I don't understand you, and that's when you're being TOO subtle."

" Like when?"

" Um..." Taichi itched his head and gave a look of dismay. He didn't like prompt thinking. " I can't remember off the top of my head."

The ends of Yamato's lips curled upward. " Then let's do something while you think."

Taichi wasn't given time to reply. Yamato quite swiftly grabbed the cello player by the shoulders and set his lips upon the darker face. Taichi nearly jumped; he wasn't used to Yamato attacking him like this... but God DAMN it felt good.

In their passionate fury, Taichi left an additional mark on Yamato's violin hickey, and one thing led to another... but before things could get out of hand (err clothes), they simultaneously broke apart.

" Forget the example," Taichi said, " There are things I'm more concerned with."

He gave the blonde a tight hug and rested his chin on his golden hair.

" You know... my violin teacher, mother and I had this interesting conversation about life in a public high school... You should've seen the look on my mother's face while my teacher was telling her stories. She was so shocked... then again, she grew up in all-female schools. And she grew up apart from the America's 60's era. She was never exposed to underage smoking, sex, alcohol and drugs, let alone talks of it."

Taichi nodded.

" I sometimes wonder if she even appreciates what she has. At least I wouldn't even consider doing any of those."

" Strange question for you, Yama," Taichi said as he settled his arms around the other. " Do you think sex is overrated?"

Yamato stared blankly before actually registering the question. " Whoa... um. Sometimes."

" Why are some... a lot... of people obsessed with it?" It wasn't much of a query, more like a doubted thought.

Again, Yamato took a few moments to answer. " Hormones, Taichi. It's a biological problem. It's our nature. Some people want to go beyond it... some want to stay with it."

" What about you, Yama?"

The violin player glanced up to lock eyes with Taichi. " And then there are those who are borderline. But... I can live without sex."

The brunette smirked. " But you can't live without me, ne?"

" Cheese monger."

" You know you like it..." Taichi said. His smug expression smoothly changed to a soft smile. " I can't live without you, either."

" ...Seriously?"

They stared at each other more intently; Taichi smile was still faint. ' He's beginning to understand."

" Aa," Taichi confirmed, kissing Yamato on the forehead. " No need to worry."

Yamato made a sound of contentment and continued to lean against Taichi. He liked these moments the most, and with their busy schedule, he had to make the best out of them. Even if he wished he had more time...

----

June 18, 2003

Quebec, Canada

Time... he could clearly remember a forensics informative presentation about time... How it controlled people's lives how it caused joy and pain... The message of the fifteen-minute speech was evident; We cause our own distress, our own happiness. We rule ourselves, yet we are not willing to change. No one is willing to suffer the solution.

Yamato layed against Taichi's bare chest, listening to the heavy heart-beats slowly diminish to a calm pulse. They were too tired to say much.

Taichi sighed and rested a hand on the small of Yamato's back. The rain was still coming down in torrents.

" Mm... Taichi," the lighter one mumbled, nuzzling Taichi's side. Taichi didn't reply, not needing to. Laying there, relaxing with the one he loved and knowing for the moment that all that mattered was the other person was more than enough to allow him freedom.

The weather made the day drone on slowly --high heaven for the two boys. This was better than just a vacation, if only it could last forever. For the moment, however, they could procrastinate their stress.

Taichi groaned as Yamato shifted position on him.

" Parlez françaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiis," Yamato suddenly voiced, " Le boeuf est meilleur."

" Um, right." What else could Taichi say to " Beef is best?"

" Uh, uh! En français!" Yamato chastised lazily.

" D'accord..."

Too much vacation isn't healthy for the mind, it seems.

----

December 28, 2005

America

" Hey, Yama, wanna head up to your room?"

The blonde sweatdropped. " Uh... can we not?"

" Why not?"

" It's embarrassing..." Yamato said through gritted teeth.

" Show me something I haven't seen already, Yama," Taichi replied, raising an eyebrow.

" Don't say I didn't warn you."

They went upstairs, taking a short left turn into Yamato's room.

" WHOA."

" It got renovated, remember?"

" Um, yeah, but... WHOA." Immediately, Taichi set his sights on the picture frames littering the room. " Little children pictures!" he exclaimed, nearly squeaking.

" Yeah, my parents decided that it would be a good idea to decorate my own room in the process," Yamato muttered.

Taichi grinned happily as he saw the other memoirs surrounding the room. " They're amusing."

" I kind of want to throw them all in the trash," said Yamato, " They're taking up too much space."

Contemplative, Taichi grabbed Yamato and brought him close, while holding one of the pictures in his other hand. " Yama."

The violin player blushed at the contact, then stared at Taichi.

" You're too self-conscious sometimes. Can you even open up to the one who cares for you most?"

The blush turned a deeper hue. In attempt to hide it, Yamato pressed his forehead against Taichi's comfortable lavender shirt. " You're color-therapeutic today."

" Huh?"

" Lavender. It's a relaxing color... scientifically proven, or so they say," Yamato said slowly, leaning further onto Taichi. Taichi uttered a light groan.

" Mmmm..."

There was a clear sign of restraint on Taichi's part. " Taichi," the blonde sweatdropped again, " Are you..."

A slight change in Taichi's expression raised his suspicions. " A little. Sad, we were just talking about this was overrated..."

" It still is," Yamato replied, " Doesn't mean that it's always a bad thing."

Taichi laughed nervously, irked at his own situation. " Koi!"

Swiftly placing the frame back on its respectful table, Taichi turned and threw himself and Yamato onto bed, where they continued their youthful foolery...

----

Summer 2006

Excerpt from Yamato's uncompleted writing:

--Humans today are social, after all. With heavy curriculum and extracurricular activity demand, today's teens rarely have time ouside school to interact. Or at least, they WANT more time. A clutter of the students looking for a DECENT education have to use all of their classes for required classes. Science and Math are always first. Anything roughly related to arts are just "electives," second thoughts, pushed into the storage for back-up. And perhaps the arts are okay in the back; as long as humans would rather strive to aim for "perfection" of knowledge. People want more lawyers to adjust the increasing corruption of people, scientists to discover ways to cheat death, and perhaps existence. Market sale is another biggie. Economy flails wherever and whenever, and as the populations grows exponentially, work also becomes competitive exponentially. Yet, humans are constantly trying to direct themselves out of certain doom.

When will they learn to ease off? They've overclouded themselves with their pride of "intelligence," even though it is quite apparent that the United States will never lead on such a genre. Has pride of "entertainment" really died? It has more simmered, but to the point where they have no priority. It has become a minority. Entertainment IS a priority. It relieves tension, and everyone can relate to it... It is what brings the world together in times of trouble, what keeps people motivated to live. It's natural to work to achieve such things, but what of the people who wish to create it for a living? After all, what would be the point of working for entertainment when no form of it exists?

Let them live.

----

Yamato never did complete his writing. Every once rare while, when he had the time, he would shuffle through his papers and come across a worn out stash of papers. He would read over the familiar words, memories filling his inner self, and sometimes he would write more. More of his insights, his feelings, other such emotions-- poured into his writing. He knew that it was quite useless to put it in such form, however. That's when he turned to his compositions...

" It's about that time," Yamato stated sadly. " I wish it didn't have to come." He held the microphone diligently between him and the brunette next to him.

" All things come to an end eventually. " Taichi avoided looking at the audience. They had a good reason for saying this announcement only in the concert without previous notice. " This is our last song for you."

They sat quietly on their stage-block, heads tilted down as the crowd cheered wildly. If the situation had been unreal, the two would've laughed. The majority of the crowd was assuming that it would be the last song of the concert.

No, it was their final performance. But it worked out better with the way the two boys said it.

And thus, Takeru and Ken cranked up the keyboards with an onslaught of Daisuke's favorite, GateI. Daisuke came out of the center with a spotlight to immediately start the words of his trademark song. He raced and paced as the words flowed out one after another... short phrases that hung meticulously seconds after they were sounded.

Something seemed more grand than usual according to the audience. They didn't know better, they just felt lucky... felt wonderful for hearing such passion. The performance was solid, the boys were feeling the rhythm beautifully, the music was stunning.

To their beliefs the boys were feeling--the extent of their desires, the yearning to wander away... Away from school, away from home, away from authoritative figures, away from the limits of society...

It was a common goal for all five of them, and one of the few times they could feel that peak was while they were singing. Even if some of them weren't aware of some of the other's exact motives, they knew it was there.

Takeru and Ken let the keyboards work their magic and joined the other three in their joyous song. Joyous? Was that the way to describe them? Ecstasy comes to mind, but one can't be too incredulous...

Perhaps one day, they will meet again and rebuild what they had here that night. Perhaps... when the ups and downs of life aren't so much of a threat. When will that precious day come...

----

" I'm so envious of your hair," again Yamato started. He was doing that quite often lately, initiating the conversation.

" Envious?" Or infatuated?" Taichi smiled. " I love your hair, too."

" Amazing what a pile of dead skin cells adds to the attractiveness factor."

" Yep..."

Yamato wandered over to where Taichi was sitting in the center of his room with his cello.

" Play the beginning of the Bach Prelude again," the blonde murmured, resting his arms around Taichi's neck.

Taichi leaned into the gentle hug, replying, " I can't exactly play with you on me."

Yamato nodded, moving back onto Taichi's bed to relax. " Slowly, like how Shinji from Evangelion played it."

" Ah," Taichi confirmed peacefully, setting his left hand on the finger board to prepare the first phrase. As he played, the world continued turning. Turning, waiting for a new day to arise...

Somewhere, an old life is taken. Somewhere, a new life is born. Somewhere, someone is lonely. Somewhere, someone is loved.

Somewhere, life will go on.

Taichi's melody ensured that.

----

Owari

----

-falls off chair- Where have the years gone... -in tears- Exhaustion...

By the way, if mock elections interest you, I won "Best Musician" and "Most changed" at Portage Central High's Senior Mock Elections. I had no idea people knew I even existed. Oo; But um... -huggles you all xD-

I guess the following can be some sort of "Foreword" to TBB... I wonder why they call it Foreword in novels when they usually talk about stuff after concluding the story. ; Why not put it at the end and call it "Afterward" or something..? Oo; -shrug- I'm not a professional at that kind of thing. XD

I know that a lot of people have probably forgotten about this fic along the way because it was so slowly updated, but... this fic has the most of my personal feelings in it in anything I've done fanwork-wise so far. I dunno... perhaps the original I'm working on will surpass it one day. But the original is much more subliminal. Well, even this fic is a bit more subliminal, but still held mainly within Taichi and Yamato. No one's really figured out (or at least told me) who represents exactly what in this fic. Sometimes one person in my real life inspires more than one character in this fic, or sometimes a character in the fic represents more than one person in my real life. Hope that's not confusing. Oo;

Another thing I want to do is apologize to any of the yaoi fangirls who expect more yaoi and less of my personal ranting. Sometimes I feel like I'm using you guys as an outlet or something.. ; errr... -shuts up- As SSJupiter81 once said... "Let's all have sex and get happy!" or YaMaTo-KuN's "When life gets hard... fuck it." Some day, they will understand! -hides in her hole in the meantime- Poor Takeru... I'll leave his future up to your imagination.

Wow, it's done... o.o; A few ideas from this fic will be recycled in my upcoming original series.. XD Most of the development for it is complete as I type this. Now to actually draw it out... o.o; I like drawing more than fanfics, although fanfics are easier to create at times. College and big life is coming up for me. Time to start making money. Darn economy. ; It was a fun ride! Look forward to a new website to sample upcoming stuff D

One of my favorite things about fanfics is that I can steal all the lovely songs I want. -snicker- There were many times during the writing of this fic that I wish I had opened myself to using female artist songs, but I'm glad I managed to keep what I first set out to do. Luckily, there are one-shot songfics like Cocktail I could write... Now if I could get reviews... rofl. -runs-

"Michishirube" is a DN Angel insert song, which has an original version and an acoustic version, both of which are VERY lovely (I prefer the acoustic, however). I never quite got addicted to DN Angel itself, but Miyamoto Shunichi has such a beautiful voice... quite suiting of the bish boy voice I was hoping for.

Until next time.

Splash 


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